The Last Meddlings of Lord Black
by csunsure
Summary: Harry overhears a conversation between his godfather and Tonks unaware of its significance. Sirius Black wants to see his godson happy so he decides to take action using a seldom-used tradition. Will the gamble equal happiness for Harry?
1. Chapter 1 Nighttime wanderings

The Last Meddlings of Lord Black

Chapter 1 Night-Time Wanderings

Harry was once again grateful for Ron's ability to sleep through just about anything as he woke with a sharp jerk courtesy of yet another graveyard/Voldemort-based nightmare. The 2 weeks he'd been at 12 Grimmauld Place had been eventful and, unfortunately, that included his slumber. His recent 'trial' had been a minor distraction-stressful, yes, but at least it changed his nightmares for a while. Plus, while the idea of having his wand snapped or being expelled terrified him, he'd had the slight comfort of knowing that even if the trial hadn't gone his way at least he would have been able to be with Sirius.

Harry exited the bedroom; he didn't like number 12 very much as it felt dark in atmosphere, quite oppressive in décor, and, despite Sirius's jokester attitude, the seriousness that permeated the building made the reality of Voldemort's return feel far more real. However, Harry had reconciled his dislike of his godfather's ancestral home with the knowledge that the alternatives available to him were even worse.

Harry had far more freedom here than at Privet Drive. Yes, people kept a close eye on him, but he could wander around the house, get food and drink, he wasn't treated like a slave or locked up, and, best of all, he was surrounded by magic and with people who loved him.

Harry descended the stairs, heading in the direction of the kitchen and some water. As Harry approached the kitchen, he was drawn out of his musings by an angry voice coming from behind the door he was about to open. Harry didn't want to disturb the room's  
current inhabitants, but he also didn't move away. His interest and curiosity sparked, and he could not walk away, despite knowing it was wrong to listen in to others conversations.

"SIRIUS! What the bloody hell possessed you to do this without asking him or me? Did you not think I would want some choice in this, that he deserves a say in this? Merlin help you if this is some kind of prank, because I will hex you to oblivion! I can't believe that mum and dad would agree to this nonsense!" It was unmistakably one Nymphadora Tonks talking to-or, rather, shouting at-Harry's wayward Godfather. Harry wondered what Sirius had done this time, and decided to continue listening; if nothing else, it would amuse him and distract him from the memories of his latest nightmare.

Harry heard Sirius start, "When I explained my situation …"Harry didn't the next bit, "After all, you are a Black by blood, making any inheritance unchallengeable. He needs stability, love, and a strong woman who can lighten him up a bit and who isn't intimidated by who he is. You, my dear cousin, could give him that. It wouldn't be bad for you, either. He respects you, and he's not someone who will take advantage of your gifts. He sees you for who you are and won't try to control you. It's part of why your parents agreed. I know the age gap seems big now, but in a few years it won't. He likes you, you know; I see it in how he treats you. Even if he doesn't see the potential there yet, he does care, and you can't say you don't care about him. Put him in some decent clothing and I'm pretty sure he could get you hot and bothered," Sirius barked out the last part in a laugh.

Even in his sleepy state, Harry knew that laughing at the expense of an aggravated Tonks was not a wise move.

"SIRIUS, THAT'S NOT THE POINT! Caring about someone is not the same as loving someone or being attracted to someone or wanting a relationship with them.

"Sirius, when did you sign this thing and is there any way out?"

Harry could hear Sirius talking in gentle tones, but couldn't make out the words.

The next thing he heard was, "Look Nymphie, this is done and you're stuck with it. But Nym, I just want you both to be happy. I care about you both and this was the only way I could guarantee that you guys would be happy. You know as well as I do that I'll be lucky to make it out alive from this war since I currently have the ministry and the Dark Lord wanting me dead. The only thing going for me is that at least the goblins like me."

The tone went down again until suddenly, "Sirius, you're an arse you know that!" Nymphadora stormed out, leaving the kitchen door wide open.

"Clearly he's going to be the mature one in the relationship, but with that temper and body I'm sure he won't mind," Harry heard Sirius mutter to himself.

As Sirius's eyes followed the young auror's retreating figure, he noticed his slightly dazed looking godson also looking in the direction where Tonks had just disappeared. Sirius couldn't resist the opportunity to wind Harry up a bit.

"Got a nice arse, hasn't she pup? Bit on the young and related side for me, though," Sirius stated as he joined Harry's side. Harry jumped, blushed beet red, and began to sputter. "Don't worry pup, I'm glad to see you've got good taste; but I would recommend not checking out a bird's assets so obviously, it's a good thing there aren't any of the house's female residents present right now, 'cause looking at a women like that wouldn't go down well.

"Anyway, as fit as you may find my cousin, I'm pretty sure you didn't come down here to check her out. How long have you been hiding here? And how much did you hear?"

"Erm…" Started a slightly embarrassed Harry, "about 5 minutes ago, and not very much. Are you trying to set Tonks up with Moony or something?"

Sirius chuckled. "Something like that pup. Needless to say, Miss Nymphadora isn't too impressed by my actions, but I think she'll come 'round eventually. Anyway, enough about her, what are you doing up?"

"I had a nightmare and thought I'd get some water," supplied Harry.

"Want to talk about the nightmare?" Sirius asked.

"No thanks, but I'm not feeling up to trying to sleep again yet, can you keep me company?" Harry asked shyly.

"Of course, pup. Why don't I tell you about your dad's way with the ladies before your mum caught his attention."

Sirius and Harry spent the next couple of hours discussing James, girls, and his parents before Harry headed back to bed, both the nightmare and the overheard conversation all but forgotten.

**an/ This is to give me a break from my other story and to try and spark some inspiration in that one, i will update this and i have a plan and the epilogue written already but i can't say how frequently I will update this one at the moment. This has now been beta'd by Proud Mudblood and a particular Thanks to reviewer alix33 who spotted a couple of now fixed errors 14/4/12 /an**


	2. Chapter 2 Bonding

Chapter 2-Bonding

The next couple of weeks were very busy for Harry. Although he did not leave 12 Grimmauld Place, between Molly Weasley's efforts to make the house habitable, trying to overhear the Order meeting, spending time with the younger Weasleys and Hermione, and bonding with his godfather, it came as a shock to Harry when he realized there were only a couple of days until Harry's return to Hogwarts.

Although they had had some degree of success with tidying up the house, the younger housemates had not succeeded in getting much information on the Order or its activities, but at least now Harry had some idea of who the Order members were.

Late last week, as they were watching the Order members' departure from the latest meeting, Hermione shared her observation with the others that she had not seen Auror Tonks for a few weeks. Harry scoured his memories for the last time he'd seen the spunky metamorphmagus and concluded that it had been the night he had overheard her argument with his godfather over Remus.

Harry pondered whether that was the cause of her absence or whether she was on an assignment from the ministry or the Order. He hoped, whatever the reason for her absence, that it was her choice and that she was safe. He hadn't known her long, but he liked her attitude; she didn't treat him or the others like children, but she was also serious and she didn't tell them anything more than what was generally available to them. She also made sure to chat with them and didn't patronize them and seemed genuinely apologetic at their exclusion. Harry's contemplations were disrupted by Ginny's observation to the group that Tonks could be in disguise. Harry doubted it-what would be the point? Plus, why would she be avoiding them? Harry vowed to himself to ask Sirius about her absence.

Harry and Sirius (and sometimes Remus) had chatted often since his arrival at his godfathers house. Although it was clear that Molly didn't trust Sirius with Harry, she also didn't stop them from spending time together. Even with her concern, though, Molly seemed to understand that Harry needed Sirius along with the information and support he could give. Despite that Molly often stayed within obvious earshot much of the time. Harry didn't mind Molly's concern too much as he was thoroughly enjoying finding out about the escapades of his mother and father in and after school from Sirius and Remus. It was a great distraction from the darkness that seemed to be encroaching on his life, and for once he wasn't in a rush to get back to Hogwarts. Harry's favorite chats with his godfather had been the late night kitchen ones that had started after the night of the argument between Tonks and Sirius.

Connecting with his godfather and former professor gave him a rare sense of belonging and family, something he had always craved. Of course, as an orphan living with the Dursleys-and their treatment of him-Harry had felt he was missing something. Yes, the Dursleys were nowhere near the ideal parents, but Harry saw how much they cared about Dudley. Even if the results of their love were to the detriment of Harry's wellbeing, he wished somebody loved him that much and during the last few weeks with Sirius he'd begun to feel that kind of quasi-parental relationship for the first time that he could remember.

During Harry's relatively brief time in the wizarding world so far , he'd only really heard short snatches about either of his parents, and those mainly focused on James. His mother Lily was mainly a mystery to him. If it wasn't for the mirror of Erised and the few photos Hagrid gave him in 1st year he'd have little idea about what his parents even looked like. Harry was felt his understanding of who his parents were and who he was as Harry James potter not the-boy-who-lived with each late night conversations. The conversations also made him a little sad as it fully dawned on him how much he'd lost on that Halloween night in 1981, not just a mum and dad, but two amazing people.

Sirius seemed to be enjoying their time together, too, but Harry noticed that the closer he got to going back to Hogwarts, the more aloof his godfather was becoming. Harry knew Sirius was sad about his departure, but it felt like more than that. However, for the time being, he couldn't work out what. It was 2 days before Harry was set to leave for the new school year and, as was now tradition, it was the middle of the night and he was sitting with his godfather in the kitchen nursing a butterbeer.

Sirius had just finished retelling a story of one of his and James's Hogwarts escapades involving a dungbomb, a bubblehead charm, the invisibility cloak, and a staff meeting. The story over with, Sirius seemed to retreat back behind the walls erected in recent days. He seemed distracted and dejected. He and Harry sat in companionable silence for about 10 minutes before Harry remembered to ask about Tonks, in part hoping that discussing his vibrant cousin would re-energize his godfather, or, at the very least, distract him from whatever was causing his current malaise.

"Sirius," Harry uttered quietly

"Yes Harry."

"Do you know what's happened to Tonks? Hermione noticed she's not been around for a couple of weeks. She's not hurt or anything, is she?"

Sirius chuckled mirthlessly before replying. This calmed Harry slightly, as his godfather wouldn't react that way if she were hurt or in danger.

"No, pup she's not hurt. From what I gather from Remus and Kingsley, she hasn't yet forgiven me for my actions last month, and is not ready to be in a room with me just yet. And, given that I can not leave these 4 walls, she's avoiding the house. Probably a good thing for me, since that witch is mighty talented with hexes when she wants to be, and I'm not sure my family jewels would survive the encounter."

"What did you do to cause her to fight with you, does she not like Remus?"

"No, she likes Remus well enough, she just doesn't agree with my latest course of action or the implications it has for her, but I'm sure she'll come round in time. For the time being, however, can you not mention the argument you overheard?"

Harry thought this was weird, but knew his godfather wouldn't ask without a reason, and just assumed that the request was to do with Remus, either because he is a werewolf or that he is unaware of Sirius's meddling in his love life.

"Oh ok…"

"What about the work Tonks does for the Order?"

"From what King has told me, she's been doing a lot of overtime at the ministry. Apparently, she needs the money, and has requested that Dumbledore doesn't send her on missions for a few weeks."

* * *

To say Tonks was angry was an understatement; she was furious! Who in the name of Merlin did Sirius think he was? Yes, pureblood society was ruled by men, but that didn't give Sirius the right to mess with her life, it was all so unfair! She felt like stamping her foot and slamming doors but at this point she realized she was acting very immaturely, even for her, but she couldn't handle this. It was why she had avoided her parents, Sirius, and, by extension, Harry and the Order. She didn't trust herself or her actions. It had taken all her self-control to storm out of Grimmauld Place without doing anyone or thing any permanent damage. She had avoided the Order by taking every extra auror shift she could in the ministry and begging Dumbledore to be taken off active duty for a few weeks. Kingsley just assumed that this was the result of money issues and she did nothing to correct that assumption. Unfortunately, although this got her away from people or having to talk about it, it didn't stop her thinking about it.

The worst thing about all of these changes, as far as she was concerned, was being so confused. She felt so helpless, it had been two and half weeks and she still didn't know exactly how she felt about the implications for her love life courtesy of the contract that her parents and Sirius had bound her to. There were two things she was sure of; one, for the time being she was telling no one who didn't already know.

Two, she hated the situation! She was 22 years old and her parents had chosen to decide her future without even consulting her! It was times like this she suspected life would be easier as a muggle. The muggle world had, for the most, part moved on from these traditions and at least women could use legal support to get out of situations like this if they needed to. Unfortunately, magic and the wizarding world were not always so progressive on these issues. Magic had its own rules and she'd established from her short 'discussion' with Sirius that death was essentially the only way out of this one, but she didn't want to die, she was pretty sure Harry didn't, either, she was certain he would never kill her, and she certainly would never kill him, either; Sirius, maybe, but Harry didn't deserve any of her wrath. After all, this was as much against his will as hers, and he would have no choice, either.

Harry. There was the main source of the confusion; he was 15, hero of the wizarding world, seemingly with a target on his back. To the best of most people's knowledge he was one of the most eligible bachelors in the wizarding world, heir to the Potter title and estate, current heir apparent to the Black estate, and he was easy on the eyes. She had to admit, if he was a little older physically, he was definitely her type, but that alone would not be enough for a happy marriage, friendship, or potentially love; that came with knowing someone and spending time with them, but she didn't really know him other than a few meetings this summer, she had never really been alone with the guy. Most of what she knew of who Harry was, was through a combination of what she read in the papers, the rumors she heard in the ministry, what she was told in Order meetings, and what Ginny Weasley gushed about the boy. There was no way he could be all of what she had heard, there were too many contradictions and, short of having a personality disorder as the Prophet were now inferring, no one could have such polar opposite traits.

She had always identified with the emerald eyed young man since he was judged on his looks – more specifically, his scar. People always seemed to want him to be someone but the public always changed their minds. He had women fawning over him to be with him even if he seemed somewhat oblivious to it at the moment, but these women did not fawn over him, but rather the idea of him 'Harry Potter –the Boy-Who-Lived,' not Harry Potter – the scruffily dressed, shy, and uncertain young man who was not quite yet comfortable in his own skin. It reminded her of a male version of herself at 15 and partly of herself now. Did she, a clumsy, metamorph, tomboy, really deserve someone who, whether they like it or not, looked set to have a very prominent role in the future of the wizarding world. Could she be what he needed in that role? She doubted it. She certainly was not going to be arm candy, a silent partner, a subordinate partner, or a housewife. Harry would have to live with that. She still didn't get why Sirius had chosen her-surely Hermione or Ginny would have been better choices? For one, they were closer to his age and Harry knew and liked them both. But then, as Sirius had explained her Black blood would make the union and Harry's inheritance of the Black estate far more politically stable than marrying the younger witches. What confused her, however, was that up until this point, neither her parents or Sirius had ever done anything in the name of politics. In fact, both had positively rebelled against it, only now to force it on the next generation.

Apart from the lack of choice and how little she knew about Harry, her main concern currently was what to do now that she was aware of her fate. She couldn't willingly enter into a serious relationship with anyone now knowing she couldn't at least offer forever, she couldn't and wouldn't string anyone along. In less than 6 years she would, barring death, be married to Harry Potter. But right now, he was an innocent 15-year-old boy who barely seemed to acknowledge girls existed. From what Hermione and Ginny had said, he had no real experience with girls let alone women so she would leave him alone for a few years, regardless of their mutual futures, Harry deserved to have normal teenage experiences with other teenagers, and she wasn't going to take that away from him by being possessive, the boy had already had too much taken from him by the wizarding world and she was not going to take any more from him. Besides, a bit of experience would work in her favor.

Deciding that Harry was off limits, at least until he reached wizarding majority, left Tonks with a problem. She was a tactile young women who enjoyed physical contact and flirting. She had needs that would not wait two years. She decided that as long as she was open about her situation without naming the other party, there was no reason she couldn't date. Tonks smiled with that decision made. She hoped that with that decision made her emotions would calm down as it was getting her in serious trouble at work and she was one incident away from being placed on desk duty for the rest of the week.

Last week, a colleague had made the mistake of commenting on her hormonal state within her earshot and it had taken a St. Mungo's healers 2 hours to repair the damage she caused. That is what led her to be standing in the shadows of platform 9 and ¾ on 'babysitting duty' as this particular task was known by the auror was used as a punishment for those aurors not performing as they should.

Tonks noticed the sudden influx of red heads and began to look out for her ebony haired future husband. He looked anxious and a little stressed but his eyes seemed to sparkle when he saw the train. His eyes were definitely windows to his soul, she noted. She watched as he, Hermione, and the younger Weasleys boarded the train having said goodbye to their Order guard and the elder Weasleys. She wondered what this year would have in store for her future husband, knowing a little of the ministry's plans and Harry's past history she suspected nothing good. She just hoped it wouldn't cause him too much pain.

* * *

As Harry stared out of the window of the carriage, contemplating the term ahead while waiting for Hermione and Ron to arrive from the prefects' meeting, he felt the train start to move. He could have sworn he saw a flash of bubblegum pink on the platform, but maybe he was imagining it.

** AN/Thank you to my beta Proud Mudblood for going through this chapter. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the first chapter or has subscribed to this story I was really amazed at the response. I clearly underestimated the number of people who like harry/tonks pairings. I only hope the story can live up to expectations. I still don't know when I will next update but hopefully I'll work out a schedule soon. Thanks to reviewer alix33 yet again for their error spotting 14/4/12/**AN


	3. Chapter 3 Threats and Frets

The Last Meddlings of Lord Black

Chapter 3-Threats and Frets

Enjoying the absence of one Molly Weasley Sirius was revelling in the idea of having an afternoon of bad behaviour and reasserting himself as the Lord of the manor even if it was for just a few hours. The last few days following Arthur's attack were emotionally and physically draining for the entire household, and the presence of Molly and her brood had curtailed Sirius's normal ways of handling such situations. He may own the house, but he was under no illusions as to who currently ruled the roost. Still, this had been the best Christmas he had experienced in well over a decade. Unfortunately, he had not bargained on a fiery female disrupting his solitary plans with a wand pressing into his Adam's apple. Yes, Sirius had seen a fair few irritated women in his time, but not many looked as intimidating as the one before him currently. Worst of all, he would not get the bonus of defusing her anger in the way he normally would. Standing in front of him, index finger jabbing him forcefully in the chest, was one very pissed off Nymphadora Tonks sporting spiky red hair.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! You are a coward, you know that? I thought you were meant to be a Gryffindor for merlin's sake, and yet you don't have the balls to tell your own godson you've entered him into a marriage contract! And in case you're wondering how I know you haven't yet chosen to enlighten Harry to the predicament that you have personally placed him in, Hestia decided I would be amused to hear the latest gossip from Hogwarts. Apparently, according to her niece in Ravenclaw Harry has been snogging a house-mate. In case you were curious, by all accounts his snogging has been very wet, whatever that means. Now, I know I don't know Harry that well, but from all accounts-bar Snape's-he is a true Gryffindor, chivalry and all. I cannot believe he would lead a girl on knowing he was bound to marry another. This, therefore, leads me to believe that you have neglected to inform him of his relationship status."

"Hello, Dora. Happy Christmas to you, too. Your presence is very much a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. I was under the impression you were accompanying my godson to St. Mungo's this afternoon."

"I was supposed to, but I swapped with Hestia, since she owed me a favour, and I felt we were overdue for another conversation about the blasted contract without the possible chance of unwelcome eavesdroppers. Now, would you care to explain why your godson is unaware of a marriage contract pertaining to him that you are the architect of and has been active for 5 months?"

Shrinking slightly at his cousins harsh tone, Sirius answered, "Erm, sorry Nymphie, I honestly didn't think there was a chance he would get anywhere near a girl other than Hermione, you must have seen how nervous he is around the opposite sex. He certainly doesn't take after James in that respect. I didn't want to put extra pressure of the boy. You've seen how abominable his relatives are, and then there was the trial, and I didn't want to add to it all. I just wanted him to have a few weeks with me, the way it should've been. I didn't think a couple of months would make a difference. And, on the bright side for you, at least now he's not a complete novice when it comes to females."

"How much of an idiot are you, Black? Regardless of Harry's shyness, he's a sex symbol to thousands of witches. Love potions are not unheard of, and he's been surrounded by hundreds of potential perpetrators. At least with knowledge of the contract, he could take some precautions. Questioning your pitiful excuse further, you know if he had taken a couple of steps more with a girl, it could have been seriously dangerous for him, for me, for us! To start with, without having seen the contract-yeah, thanks a lot for not sharing that, by the way, I swear you and my mother conspired on that one to make me talk to her-I was hoping to have a couple of flings while I waited for Harry to mature a bit, but no, I think you made it added prank value by insuring my celibacy for the 18 months through the blasted stipulations! It's just a good thing for all of us I didn't get to exercise my frustrations before I got to see the blasted contract-believe me, I would have, but I think I scared most of the ministry males off after they heard about 'the shrinking incident,'" Tonks huffed.

"Well, that's good to know, but I'm pleased to inform you that those fidelity clauses were inserted by your mother; apparently she was not impressed by your 'activities' recently, and, being the Slytherin and Black she is, you didn't stand a chance, dear cousin," replied Sirius.

"Even more reason for you to tell Harry the truth; knowing my mother, if you let her direct the contract, the penalties will be worse for Harry-and those penalties in the contract are not just for decoration! Whether I like it or not, having read through the blasted contact as many times as I have since our last confrontation, I know that there is little to no scope for alternative relationships and ignorance is no protection. Maybe I should just hex your bits. it would certainly improve my mood. The best thing you could have done for the both of us was not to draw it up in the first place, but it's too late for that, now. I hate what you and my parents have done to Harry and I, but there is no way I'm going to allow Harry to suffer because you neglected to inform him he has a bride."

"You could tell him, you know, it might come better from you anyway, after all you are his bride to be."

"Oh no, Black, I'm not taking responsibility for that! You got us into this situation, it's your responsibility to get us out. Besides, like it or not, Harry and I need to build a relationship that will sustain a marriage and I don't think, 'Oh yeah, by the way, you have an unavoidable marriage contract to me,' is going to be the best start. I'll give you until January the 6th to tell him or I will get someone else to tell him-maybe the goblins. After all they were the witnesses for this, or maybe my parents, after all, they're as culpable as you are for this situation. But, somehow, I don't think either of these options would be beneficial to your relationship with Harry, nor our own relationship. You saw my reaction to the news, and I'm an adult, a trained auror, and have not had to deal with half the shit Harry has in his lifetime. It's taken me a couple of months to get my head around this situation and that's not to say that there haven't been a few causalities-just ask some of my colleagues! Harry needs and deserves to know what you have planned for him, you owe him the truth."

* * *

Returning to Grimmauld Place from St. Mungo's-regardless of anyone's words or actions-Harry was full of self-loathing and guilt. He felt the he was responsible for Mr. Weasley's attack and he felt dirty. People always seemed to end up dead or in life and death situations because of him and it was just getting worse. Perhaps his 'family' had been right, he was a dangerous freak, or maybe the _Prophet_ was right and he was crazy. Harry knew soon his wizarding friends would realize they were better off without him in their lives. Harry wanted right then was to see Sirius; he knew it was slightly out of character for him as it made him feel dependent, but he needed the company and reassurance of his godfather. He headed to Buckbeak's in the hope he might be alone but, unfortunately, there was no sign of his godfather, so he grudgingly headed towards the kitchen. Entering the room deep in thought, it took Harry a while to process the room's inhabitants, but Sirius's barking laugh drew his attention

"Prongslet, I was wondering when you'd join the party, cousin Tonks here was just sharing her eventful Christmas morning with us, only Nymphie could get tangled up with a gnome and tinsel without even leaving her bedroom."

Harry, who had not noticed the auror's presence before, looked over at her with a half-amused, half-quizzical look. As his eyes met hers, Tonks's hair went instantly from spiky pink to a soft lilac bob and she looked away.

Harry wasn't sure what the hair change meant, but he didn't like it, as this was not her normal reaction to him. However, given the events of the last few days he couldn't blame anyone for not wanting to look at him-after all, he was dangerous-but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. He didn't know Tonks well, but she had always struck him as non-judgemental, easy-going, and not someone easily intimidated. Unfortunately, her reaction confirmed what Harry thought; the few people who hadn't run off or turned on him because of the Prophet's smear campaign would no longer feel comfortable around him. This was reinforced to Harry by Tonks's next action.

"Siri, I'm going to go put my stuff in guess room, I'll be down for dinner." Harry watched as the young auror almost sprinted out of the room backpack in hand. 'Great,' thought Harry, 'She can't even stand to be in the same room as me.'

* * *

Tonks couldn't stand to be in the room any longer; this was the first time she'd really been in Harry's company since she found out about the contract and she had no idea how to act. It made her feel vulnerable, like she had as a school girl before she embraced her morphic abilities, and she hated that feeling. To make matters worse, when Harry looked her in the eye, she immediately felt guilty and had to look away before she confessed all that she knew about his-no,_ their_ future. Tripping up the stairs, and cursing her lack of coordination, she headed to the room Sirius had assigned her to. She had no doubt the room's proximity to Harry's was intentional. After her ultimatum and rant earlier, Tonks had suggested to her cousin that she should stay for the remainder of the holiday to get to know her future husband better without the pressure of the contract or Harry's reaction and probable rejection. Now, however she wasn't sure it was such a wise idea, she couldn't even survive 5 minutes in a room with Harry before bolting. She was glad Harry was currently oblivious to what her hair changes meant about her thoughts and mood. That would have been truly awkward.

Boxing day flew by for Tonks, who had yet to work out how to be around Harry and behave normally. As the house's inhabitants headed to bed, Sirius pulled Tonks aside and, in a surprisingly harsh whisper, commanded, "Nymphadora, a word in the library, please."

Tonks followed Sirius, unsure what to think. When they arrived at the library Sirius directed Tonks over to a pair of armchairs while starting a series of complex wand movements that Tonks recognized as privacy charms which caused her anxiousness to grow. Joining her, Sirius began with an unusually solemn demeanour

"Nymphadora, yesterday, you rightly pulled me up on my actions, or, as the case may be, the lack thereof. Now, I need to return the favor, although hopefully without so much drama and shouting." A ghost of a smirk appeared. "Harry came to see me in the middle of the night yesterday, he was trying to convince me to let him go back to those awful muggle relations of his for the rest of the holiday because he doesn't want to put anyone else in danger. When I refused, he used you as an example, saying that I should let him go because he was making you uncomfortable, and that, since you are my family, apparently I should, according to Harry, make sure you are comfortable." Tonks cringed.

"Sirius, I didn't mean to cause trouble I'll leave…" And started to rise.

Sirius cut her off, "NYMPHADORA, you will do nothing of the sort! If you leave, that will just confirm to Harry everything he has constructed, whether it's true or not. _Now, I_ know your reaction to Harry has nothing to do with the attack and everything to do with the contract, but, as you kindly pointed out yesterday, Harry doesn't.

Regardless of what you feel about me or the situation, suck it up Nymphadora. Harry doesn't need or deserve the way you're reacting to him right now. You're an auror, for fuck's sake, surely you can mask your emotions a bit! Harry needs all the support he can get right now. He's so close to breaking I'm scared for him, he's the closest thing I have to a son and I don't know what to do to help him right now, but you're staying. You asked to come, and your actions will not be the thing that tips him over."

The next few days Tonks tried hard to overcome the awkwardness she experienced around Harry. She pushed herself to socialize with Harry and his friends. It broke her heart to see Harry's self-loathing evident in even the smallest actions. Harry came across as quiet, introspective, and humble, nothing like any of the wizarding world's stories painted him as. She could hardly believe that the Harry she'd spent the last few days getting to know was the same Harry Potter who had faced dragons and Voldemort less than a year ago. Harry was intriguing and she wondered if she would ever fully understand him. She could see there were many similarities between them; both were judged on things they had no control over, both had few people that they trusted, and they were both in the front lines of the upcoming war, albeit for different reasons. This last few days had been the first time since the contract had been revealed to her that she thought this marriage might actually work, and maybe she could come to love Harry. But the thought that constantly nagged her was, could he love her when he clearly didn't even like himself?

One thing that was bothering Tonks at the moment was the mark on Harry's right hand; whatever it was, it certainly wasn't good whenever Tonks tried to get a covert closer look Harry would self-consciously cover it up, and she vowed to mention it to Sirius.

* * *

Tonks wanted to curse one Albus Dumbledore, who in their right mind would schedule an Order meeting on New Year's Eve? At least the meeting was earlier than normal so she might get to a club before midnight.

The Order meeting's contents made Tonks want to hex Dumbledore even more. Who in their right mind would let the bat of the dungeon, a man who was known to have a hostile relationship with Harry, teach him the highly personal skill of Occlumency? Occlumency relies on trust especially in the beginning, when shields were weak/non-existent. When she supported Sirius's objection and offered to train Harry herself she was shot down by Dumbledore in an instant citing that Harry needed the strongest Occlumens available if he was to stand a chance against Voldemort and, unfortunately, that, in Dumbledore's opinion, was Snape. Dumbledore also dismissed her concerns about Harry's hand, by the end of the meeting Tonks desperately needed to blow off some stream before she ended up in Azkaban for attacking the leader of The Light. She needed fun now, so she sent off her penguin patronus form to an auror mate, hoping that there was still space at their house party.

Three hours later, Tonks was sweaty but having the time of her life having danced her anger out. The Order meeting was a distant memory when, suddenly, 'Do the Hippogriff' ended abruptly mid-song, meaning one thing: midnight was quickly approaching. 10…9…8… Tonks noticed someone familiar moving towards her, moving in for the midnight kiss, 3… 2… 1… 'Oh Merlin,' Tonks thought as he moved towards her.

* * *

As mortifying as it was, Sirius had somehow persuaded, or maybe it was the firewiskey, Bill to help him give Harry 'the talk' this morning. Sirius was currently questioning his sanity, who in their right mind would do this on New Year's Day? They had let Molly know, who asked them to give it to Ron, as well, and she'd decided to follow their example and have a similar discussion with Ginny and Hermione this morning-after all Hermione's parents couldn't help explain wizarding protection.

As breakfast was ending Sirius spoke,

"Harry, Ron can you hang back for a few minutes there's something I need to talk to you two about…"

One hour later, a very groggy Tonks stumbled into the kitchen. As she opened the door, she heard chairs scraping across the floor, but in her hung-over state she didn't really process what was going on; her eyes were virtually shut as if she was desperately trying to avoid the harsh lighting of the kitchen with none of her normal enthusiasm she blurted "Sirius where's the hangover cure?" she asked, still not processing the room and blissfully unaware of what she had interrupted or the discomfort her unexpected presence had caused at least two of the kitchens inhabitants.

"Fun night, eh? Cupboard above the sink, Nymphadora,"

Uncorking the potion bottle and gulping the content down the herd of Hippogriff currently stomping on her brain quickly receded and the lights' intensity softened for the first time that morning, enabling her to process the scene before her. Bill and Sirius were on one side of the kitchen table looking amused while Harry and Ron were on the other looking extremely uncomfortable, like they wanted to be anywhere else right then. Both were standing and seemed to be frantically looking for an exit. Tonks caught Harry's eye and he blushed so deeply it was hard not to laugh.

"Sirius … can …we go yet?" Harry stuttered

"Yeah, I guess that about covers it, if you've got questions you know where I am."

With that Harry and Ron exited the room at the speed of lightning mumbling something as they went.

"What have you done to them Sirius?" Tonks asked with some mirth.

"Well, before you unexpectedly decided to grace us with presence we were catching the boys up on the facts of life and I'm pretty sure that your entrance, being the prefect female form that you are, gave them some ideas that probably belong in the gutter."

"Men, egh. I hope you two didn't corrupt them too much, the last thing the wizarding world needs is those two trying to emulate your record."

"Cousin, you wound, me I am a prefect gentlemen."

"If that's true I'm Merlin," Tonks shot back immediately.

Suddenly, the floo flamed up, and all 3 inhabitants trained their wands on the fireplace.

A slightly worn looking Remus appeared and Bill and Sirius relaxed, but Tonks remained in place, then made a disgruntled noise before exiting the kitchen without a word.

"Moony, care to explain what caused that reaction from our favorite little auror?"

"I may have tried and failed to kiss her last night, I underestimated how quick she is with a wand, even when hammered." Remus replied sheepishly.

A barking laugh was heard across the house.

* * *

A few days later, in the depths of the Black ancestral home, a life changing conversation was being initiated by a nervous marauder.

"As much as I hate the fact you're still not sleeping well, I'm glad you get to spend time with me, pup. Trying to get alone time in this house has become near impossible; Weasleys certainly know how to occupy a building."

Collecting up his Gryffindor courage Sirius continued, "Harry, you know you are the most important person in my life … and I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you. You are the closest thing I have to a son and nothing will ever change how I feel about you… "

Harry was starting to look anxious.

"Pup don't worry I'm not leaving and I'm not dying but you may want to kill me by the end of this conversation, as I was saying you are the closest thing son and, after you rescued me a couple of years ago, I officially made you my heir and the heir apparent of the House of Black. When you reach your majority, you will become Lord Harry James Potter-Black, and that will make you extremely desirable to the pureblood families in our world who want access to you wealth or influence, so I decided the best thing I could do to protect you, which was to arrange a marriage contract for you." The last part came out of Sirius's mouth so quickly that Harry almost didn't catch it.

"YOU WHAT! SIRIUS, YOU MIGHT BE MY GODFATHER BUT WHERE DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE OK TO DECIDE MY FUTURE WITHOUT ASKING ME! Someone controls all my life, when do I get a choice, why does no one trust me? I thought you were different, Padfoot, but you're just the same as everyone else!"

Emotionally wrought Harry stormed from the room.

The next few days were uncomfortable for all the inhabitants and visitors 12 Grimmauld Place; the tension was palpable and nobody was spared Harry's wrath or surly attitude, but only 3 people had any idea what had caused transformation in Harry's temperament. Molly put it down to teenage hormones, Hermione thought it was stress, and Dumbledore seemed to imply it was something to do with Voldemort, and had promptly given Harry and 12 Grimmauld Place a wide berth.

After three days, Sirius had reached his limit. He knew Harry had a right to be angry, but directing his anger at innocent parties wasn't helping anyone, and he was hyper-aware that Harry only had half the information and if allowed to go back to Hogwarts with only half the information and in his current state of mind he could do some serious damage to himself and others. Unfortunately, Harry had positively evaded his godfather since he was told of the contract. The only time Sirius saw Harry was meals and Harry pro-actively avoided any interaction with him. Action was needed before the house imploded, but getting Harry one on one would involve all of Sirius's marauder know-how and the assistance the Weasley twins to catch the elusive Potter scion.

Finally, catching Harry a body-bind was required to keep him in Sirius presence.

"Harry, I know you're angry at me, and you have every right to be, but stop taking it out on the rest of the house. They had nothing to do with this and you're making living here unbearable. There is more information you need to know about the contract and then I'll leave you be, but know I am always here for you and if you have any questions all you need to do is ask. I will release you from the bind providing you hear me out okay? "

"Harry the contract I have entered you into is with a family I trust, and I think it will be a good match for you, although an unexpected one, but I honestly want you to be happy. I wish I didn't have to do this to you, but I knew that, with your status, it was essential. Unfortunately, traditions in these kinds of contracts have meant that there have to be rewards, stipulations and penalties for both parties. The only way out of the contract is death, and even then a party needs to have been dead for 2 years before the surviving party can freely enter into a marriage without consequence. When you come of age, you will get a full version of the contract. Only the signatories and the contracted couple can read the details of the contract although, others will know you are contracted when you reach 17. Until you are of age, or I am dead, I am responsible for meeting all of the additional stipulations outside of the actual marriage. However, the contract has very strong penalties around infidelity, which you are covered by."

Sirius went on to describe these to Harry before finally letting speak.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm still not ok with this. I don't understand how you could do this to me, worse, how could you do this to a woman? I'm dangerous, no woman should be bound to me it's not fair on them. I have a target on my back and a group of madmen after me. I understand I don't have a choice and I have to accept it but it's going to take me a while to forgive you. For now I have 3 or 4 questions.

How long has the contract been active?"

"Since your 15th birthday, but I started drawing up the contract about a week after the 3rd Tri-Wizard task."

"Does the girl know of the contract?"

"Yes but she was unaware of it until after it was signed and had nothing to do with its creation. In fact, her reaction to its existence was very similar to yours."

"Do I know her?"

"Yes."

"Who is it?"

"Nymphadora Tonks"

**AN Thank you to my beta Proud Mudblood for sorting this chapter out. Thank you for all the reviews and favourites. The reviews helped me a lot writing this chapter as they made me realize I didn't like the direction I seemed to be leading my version of Sirius. this chapter ended up a lot longer than planned as far as I can I will aim to keep the chapters under 3k. The next chapter is almost ready to go to my beta so the it shouldn't be too long. Thanks for reading. AN p.s. sorry if the formatting is odd the updater seems to be altering my alterations. p.p.s. thank you to Fury074 for spotting the canon error now corrected  
**


	4. Chapter 4 The Ground From Under Them

The Last Meddlings of Lord Black

Chapter 4 The Ground From Under Them

'Spinning and more spinning, oh, it's finally stopped; but why am I still spinning? God, now I know why people don't come down here.' Tonks thought while she tried to regain control of her wayward body if it weren't for the seriousness of the present situation her Order colleagues would be enjoying the clown show she was currently providing.

'Don't trip, please body, don't trip,' was the mantra that Tonks was repeating desperately in her head.

Her thoughts began to run wild …

'They don't have time for my clumsy rebellion. Bloody hell, they've been here for at least 30 minutes, Merlin knows what could have happened, it might already be too late.'

'NO! Harry wouldn't give up that easily he's got bite.

'But he's 15 and Merlin knows who he's against, but they're more experienced than him and most aurors would struggle with a couple of Death Eaters. Why, then, in Merlin's baggy breeches should I expect more from him…

'Coz he's Harry bloody Potter, that's why; the guy who could cast a fully corporeal Patronus at 13; the guy who's survived moldy-shorts four times; the guy who's outwitted and outclassed half the order over the last few years; oh, and don't forget, he's gonna be my husband so I kinda have to believe in him.

'Fuck, I'm arguing with myself. Come on, gotta get my head back in the game. I'm not gonna be the weak link. They need me. _He_ needs me.

Blood. 'Please not Harry's, Merlin, where the bloody hell is this protective fear coming from we haven't even spoken since he found out! Shouting, yes, but he wouldn't even look at me, he doesn't care so why do I?

'Because you've started paying attention, he's no longer off limits, he's allowed-in fact, he's the only one who's allowed now, thanks to those meddling …FOCUS! I need to focus so I can deal with the crap later, it's not like it's going anywhere, but if I don't start paying attention soon, the crap won't matter because we'll probably be dead.

'Yeah, but if we were dead then at least I wouldn't be forced into an unhappy marriage.

'Stop, I'm not that kind of person, I care, I don't want death for anyone, I'm better than that, I'm better than them. I have to be, since I'm marrying the hero of the wizarding world.

'Oh Merlin, that's the veil, that means we're in the chamber of death. How on earth did Harry end up here, of all places? That boy needs to be taught the importance of planning and strategies-after all, he can't seem avoid trouble, maybe he'd let me teach him auror tactics. I love to see what he'd make of them outside of real life and death situations with those reflexes …

**'FOCUS!**

'This isn't a simulation, or a training opportunity, this is real, this is what I train for, what I work as, who doesn't matter…

'But it does matter, doesn't it Nym?

'It is different, it's personal. It's my life, my family, my future, not some stranger. Even more reason to stop this bloody monologue and start fighting.

'Cloaks, masks, spells, the dance of opponents, so many of them! How have the Hogwarts' students lasted this long?'

Tonks scanned the room, doing a quick recon, before fully engaging in the battle. Her eyes seek out her Hogwarts' friends, and she notices the varying degrees of injury. 'Merlin what happened to Ron?' But before she could contemplate further, another of the room's occupants caught her eye.

'Harry.' He looked so natural in a battle situation. Where was the lanky specky kid she'd collected from Privet Drive? He was moving with a fluidity that many aurors would be jealous of. The 'Boy-Who-Lived' definitely had more to him than had first met her eye.

Tonks mentally chastised herself-there would be time to analyze the apparent enigma that was 'Harry Potter' later; right now, there was a potentially deadly band of Death Eaters that needed dealing with.

Tonks catapulted herself head first into the chaos her first target-Malfoy, the bastard.

Swish, flick, flick, twirl, jab.

The blond ponce incapacitated for the time being, she moved forward.

'Bellatrix shit.'

Swish, swish, jab, jab, flick …

'Sirius, thank Merlin.'

'Green, dodge-damn, violet. Arghh, can't breathe! Need air, not ready, burning fire, tightness, falling,' _crunch_ 'this can't be good. Oh, here comes the darkness.'

* * *

"ARGHH!"

'Probably not dead if I'm in this much pain,' thought Tonks while grunting at the audience she was as yet unaware of. Tonks began groping around her, seemingly searching for her wand. After a couple of minutes, her frantic efforts to find her wand had resulted in exhaustion, and she had to admit defeat. The lack of action, the clean smell, and the lightness of her surrounding told her that, yet again, she was in the hospital.

Tonks finally became fully aware of her surroundings and started to sit up in the bed when a hand and a silky voice focused her attention

"Hello, darling. Don't try sitting up just yet, the healers need to check you. You've been out for 48 hours since Aunt Trixie got you with a couple of nasty hexes. Do you have any idea how worried your father and I have been? I really wish you'd get a safer, more appropriate job for a young woman; I'm not sure how many more times my poor heart can take the emergency firecalls for St. Mungo's"

"Mum" Tonks groaned "I'll tell you the same thing I told you when I graduated the academy. I want to be an auror, I enjoy being an auror, and, this way, I'm actually in a position to clear up some of the mess my relatives create."

Tonks and Andromeda entered into an uneasy silence, each knowing the other would not back down they had both inherited the black stubborn streak.

Suddenly a look horror past over Tonks's face "What's happened while I've been out? How did the battle go? How's Harry?" At the last question, Andromeda allowed herself a self-satisfied smirk, only for it to be wiped away a second later by her daughter's next question, "How's Sirius?"

* * *

With the battle of the department of mysteries, and the resulting acknowledgement of Voldemort's return by the ministry, the last few days had been very busy for Dumbledore and the Order members. However, due to the injuries received during the battle and the political chaos the battle had brought the wizarding world, the first post-battle meeting of the full Order of Phoenix took place 5 days after the battle.

By this time, Tonks had been discharged from St. Mungo's, on the condition that she stayed under the care of others for a few days. Unfortunately for Tonks, that meant moving in with her parents until they deemed she was well enough to go back to her flat or she felt well enough to stage an escape.

Although she had talked to her parents since the truth about the contract had come out, she hadn't really forgiven them just yet, which lead to a very tense atmosphere in the Tonks family home. At the best of times, Tonks was not a good patient, as she hated seeming weak and dependent. But with the extra baggage it was far from the best of times, and thus, a nightmare for all involved. The latest argument had led to the whole Tonks family being sat in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place waiting for the latest Order meeting to begin.

Earlier that day, Tonks had insisted that she was attending the latest Order meeting, much to the chagrin of her mother, who had tried to put her foot down, threatening to restrain her daughter if necessary to prevent her attendance as somebody recuperating from serious injuries should not, in Andromeda's words, "Be gallivanting with vigilantes in the middle of the night." However, Tonks had played her trump card, pointing out very politely to her mother that the Order's business concerned her husband-to-be's safety and future, and, therefore by association, her own, courtesy of their actions. Andromeda and Ted had to concede that point. However, it wasn't an all-out victory for the young auror as her statement led her parents to the realization that their family was, now more than ever, at the focal point of this upcoming war and, consequently, both her parents had decided they wanted to become full members of the Order.

The first topic of the Order meeting saw a dozen or so new members join the Order, including the Tonks seniors. Evidently, the events of the last few days had shown many that a fight was on its way, that action was needed, and that the ministry couldn't be relied upon.

Then there were the normal, boring, status reports, and Tonks switched off for a bit, hoping her recent injury would serve as a believable excuse if anyone picked up on her inattentiveness.

Next, Tonks listened as Shack and Moody delivered their reports of the events in the Department of Mysteries; at one point she was asked if she had anything to add, but she had to admit that everything about the battle was a bit hazy. Dumbledore proceed to disclose the events around Harry and his confrontation with Voldemort. Tonks emotions fluctuated between shock, amazement, horror, concern, and guilt that she wasn't strong enough to be there for Harry when he went through Voldemort's possession.

Her concern for Harry's wellbeing only increased when Dumbledore and McGonagall proceeded to share with the group how Harry and his friends were dealing with the aftermath of the battle and Tonks vowed to write to Ginny when she arrived home.

Her attention was bought back to the meeting by Molly Weasley inquiring about the accommodation plans for Harry's summer. Tonks listened as Dumbledore outlined the necessity of Harry returning to his relatives home for his protection from Voldemort and his followers despite Molly's, Minerva's and Remus's concerns. The more Tonks heard about Harry's family the more she worried, and what she already knew about his living conditions didn't reassure her. Unlike last year, she felt she now had the right to voice her opinion on the matter even if it seemed odd.

"Albus, I understand your desire to keep Harry safe, after all, it's what we all want, but does he really have to go back to those awful people, there are plenty of us in the order who have strong wards who would happily accommodate him, hell, I'd happily but my flat under Fidelius Charm, he needs to be around people who understand what he's going through."

"Nymphadora I appreciate your concern and the offer to house Mr. Potter but the blood war…"

Tonks expecting this interrupts "But Albus, surely the wards stopped working against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named when he used Harry's blood to resurrect himself last year?"

The rest of the group looked to Dumbledore for his response

"That may be Nymphadora, but we do not know for certain, and I do not want to test it. In addition, even if the wards no longer protect against Voldemort, they do stop his followers. I will ask that a number of you guard Harry's home during the summer. Now let's move on."

Realizing from his tone that protesting would get her nowhere, Tonks dropped the subject. The meeting went on to more mundane and procedural things. Finally, the meeting ended when it was nearing 11pm. Despite her exhaustion Tonks decided to hang around in the hopes of catching Dumbledore before he flooed back to Hogwarts. Promising her parents she wouldn't be long, she approached the headmaster.

* * *

If her hairstyle was anything to go by, its mousy and limp appearance would lead one to suspect that the Nymphadora Tonks who stumbled out of the floo was feeling dejected. She barely acknowledged her dad as she headed to the childhood bedroom she was currently occupying.

Crashing onto the bed she tried to process the last hour; she had always respected Albus Dumbledore. How could she not, he had saved the wizarding world from evil, he was the 'Leader of the Light,' and the only one Voldemort feared. But right now, her thoughts about the man were less than positive. Thank merlin for the vow she elicited from Albus prior to revealing the nature of her connection to Harry. She could understand why he was feared when she told him of the contract he was furious and that only increased when he realized the contract was unbreakable. He had pretty much told her that the wizarding world was doomed because of her! Like this was her choice. He seemed to be struggling with the idea that anybody would do something affecting Harry without consulting him. She had to admit the look on his face at that point was highly amusing and, she imagined, rarely seen; it had been somewhere between surprised, confused, and unsettled.

She couldn't understand why this was quite such a big deal to him; her and Harry yes but what she still couldn't get her head around was why Dumbledore cared so much. Of course he already realized he was not going to see the contract after all he was one of the most knowledgeable people alive on wizarding laws and customs.

He tried to convince her to keep Harry in the dark for the 'Greater Good' but she politely informed the wizened headmaster that Sirius had already informed Harry due to penalties. He then had the cheek to suggest that her and Harry not being able to have children or being in constant pain would have been preferable. Apparently, Dumbledore thought that Harry's power of love was going to save the world and this contract had made that impossible. Clearly Dumbledore was panicking based on some of his suggestions during their conversation, as if having sex with Harry would make him fall in love with her and a love potion would not be helpful in the long run considering they were stuck together for life. Anyway, surely they both deserved a real chance at love and happiness rather than a superficial substitute. So her rejection had been less than courteous.

Was it so unbelievable that Harry could fall for her? Over the last couple of months, she'd been gradually coming round to the idea being married to Harry. Yes, this situation wasn't what she dreamed of, but the more she learnt about Harry the more she realized Sirius might be right, they were well suited. Now that she had allowed herself to view Harry as a romantic prospect, she couldn't deny she found him physically attractive, and she definitely cared about him. She truly believed that she could come to love Harry, she just hoped Harry could love her, and of that she was currently uncertain given Harry had ignored her completely while escorting him back to school.

By the end of her conversation with Albus, he seemed somewhat resigned to the situation and, although clearly not happy, he had said he would support them. Apparently, he had quickly decided it was a waste of time fighting the situation. Unfortunately, this did not mean he would change Harry's summer accommodation, but Albus had agreed to Harry spending his birthday with her and it was on that thought she drifted off to sleep, the letter she intended to write all but forgotten.

**/AN/ Thanks again to my beta Proud Mudblood who did another great job. Thank for reading and reviewing, I never anticipated the reaction this story has had so far. The next chapter may be a few weeks as I've only just started it but it will provide a peek at Harry's reaction to the bombshell at the end of chapter 3 /AN/**


	5. Chapter 5 No Time Like the Present

The Last Meddlings of Lord Black

Chapter 5 - No Time Like the Present

You could be forgiven for thinking that a temperature charm had been unleashed in Hogwarts, or that maybe a dementor had been let loose in the corridors if you were to see the way students were skirting around the corridors at the moment. You might suspect that this behavior was the result of the ministry of magic admission that You-Know-Who had indeed returned. However, you would be wrong. The uncomfortable atmosphere and behavior by the majority of Hogwarts students lay firmly at the feet of one Harry James Potter. It had been a few days since the incident at the Ministry of Magic, so, as expected, the whole school knew what had happened. Of course, that did not stop the Hogwarts rumour mill from adding its own embellishments to the tale. Over the last few days the residents of the castle had quickly learnt to give Potter a wide berth after several students had found themselves at the business end of his wand after little provocation. Poor professor Flitwick had been called to the hospital wing a couple of times to reverse some pretty complex charm and jinx combinations. Even Snape and Dumbledore seemed to be giving Potter a wide berth. Rumour had it that Harry had destroyed the Headmasters' office in a fit of anger.

Harry had spent most of the last three days alone, since Hermione and Ron were still inhabiting the hospital wing and his demeanor was scaring everyone other than Ginny, Luna and Neville away. He had avoided all meals for the last two days after one too many insensitive questions had caused him to lose his head and hex a couple of third years during breakfast. Harry had since taken to hiding under his cloak or squirrelling himself away in the Room of Requirement for much of the day to escape the looks and the questions and to give him a chance to process his warring emotions. For once, Harry was grateful for the Dursleys treatment of him growing up as it was this experience that was now facilitating his self-enforced seclusion; a couple of days without regular food was nothing. Although, Dobby had popped up at least once a day bearing food, insisting that, 'the great Harry Potter, must eat sirs.' But Harry had rarely taken more than a couple of bites.

Sitting under an oak next to the Black lake, Harry kept rewinding the events of the last few days in his mind and, with each repeat, he slipped further into the darkness that seemed to be engulfing his mind. He felt so hopeless knowing now, he really had no real choice about anything between the prophecy, Dumbledore's machinations and Sirius's meddling what choices were left for him to make?

He was angry, why was it always him? Why was he always left alone? What the hell was he meant to do, now that he had discovered he was destined for death. 'Cause there was no way that he, Harry Potter, could defeat a wizard like Tom. So far, he'd been lucky in his opinion. However, it felt like that luck had an expiration date.

It wasn't actually the prophecy that was so devastating to Harry; it was the fact that Sirius died for it needlessly that hurt the most; why hadn't Dumbledore told him sooner? After all, Voldemort already knew the important part of it, what did the rest really matter? Why did Dumbledore need to have all this intrigue? Surely Harry deserved the truth?

Harry still respected Dumbledore, especially after his display in the atrium, but that didn't mean his anger towards the man would dissipate soon or that he would trust him at face value ever again. For someone who was neither his parent nor his guardian, Dumbledore had influenced his life a ridiculous amount for the 'greater good.' While that was annoying, Harry decided he couldn't really hate him for it; at least-unlike 90% of the wizarding population-he was trying to do something about Voldemort. It was just bloody annoying that those plans had him at their center. He would respect the man's wishes to limit those who knew the prophecy to Hermione, Ron and Tonks for now, but when this was all over, he would be having a very frank discussion with the old man and he would not be held responsible for any damage to the man's image in the wizarding world; no man of his skill should ever put the burden of ridding the world of Voldemort on the shoulders of an infant, but it was too late now. Tom Riddle was determined to get him, so if he wanted a chance at life, he would have to fight-but did he want to? Maybe not, but if he gave up, would his friends be safe? Certainly not. Also, if they knew what he was thinking they would kick his arse, especially Tonks.

Thinking about the pink haired woman brought a whole load of conflicting emotions. 'What was Sirius thinking?' Harry questioned in his mind his anger at his godfather spiking for a second. 'Why did you leave me to handle all this alone? I can't do this. How the hell am I meant to deal with this bloody contract without you? How can I marry a woman like Tonks? I know nothing about girls let alone women and keeping them happy. I can't tell anyone about it, especially now, as I don't want to put her in the firing line; I can't stand the idea of another death in my name. Even if I did tell people, no one in their right mind would believe a runt like me had to marry someone as awesome as Tonks.' That thought took Harry back to the night the identity of his future brides identity was revealed.

* * *

"You all right there pup? You haven't said anything for a good few minutes?" Sirius chuckled.

Sirius's comment broke Harry's trance. "Did you just say I have to marry … Nymphadora … Tonks? As in our Tonks, the auror? This has got to be one of your worst pranks yet who is it really?"

"This is no prank, prongslet, I'm being serious," Sirius replied with a smirk at the his own pun while clapping his godson on the shoulder. "Honestly, pup, you are contracted to my delectable cousin, how much do you love your godfather right now?"

Harry regained his composure. "Honestly, I don't know whether to hug you or hex you. Yes, Nymphdora's fit, and she's one of the few females I know who isn't a gibbering hormonal wreck around me, but there's no way I'd ever stand a chance with her normally, and how the heck am I meant to keep up with her, she's 7 years older than me, were you determined to see us both as unhappy as you are?"

The hurt look on Sirius's face did not stop Harry continuing to voice his thoughts out loud. Harry seemed oblivious to the affect his words were having on his godfather, but if there had been anyone else in the room they would have witnessed the pain increasing on Black's features and Harry proceeded to vent, anger clearly having won out over any gratitude for securing him such a knock-out wife.

"How could you do this to us? Do you just enjoy creating awkward situations for your own amusement, Padfoot? If this isn't a joke it's certainly not funny, it's our lives. I know you're my guardian and godfather, but did you really feel it necessary to take one of the only things I had control over away from me?"

"Pup, I did what I thought …"

Suddenly there was a menacing spark in Harry's eyes. "DO NOT finish that sentence Black! I don't want to hear it, as if the contract wasn't bad enough! To make matters worse you LIED TO ME that argument in the summer with Tonks wasn't about Moony was it?" Sirius confirmed his suspicions with a sheepish look. "It was about me! Why didn't you tell me then?"

"I didn't lie to you, pup, I just didn't correct you." Harry scowled, but Sirius continued, "I didn't want to spoil the summer for you, and I didn't think it would matter for a while since you've always been so shy around girls. I was going to wait 'til this summer, once you'd finished your O.W.L.s, but your fiancée pointed out some facts to me recently that led me to push up my time table."

"So basically, if Tonks hadn't pushed you, I still wouldn't know. GREAT TO KNOW THAT YOU'RE A COWARD AS WELL AS A MANIPULATOR! YOU MIGHT STILL BE MY GODFATHER, BUT RIGHT NOW, I DON'T KNOW YOU AND I DON'T WANT TO, EITHER!" With that, Harry stormed off, leaving a devastated Sirius black in his wake.

* * *

Reflecting on his last words to his godfather just made him feel worse. 'Sirius, why couldn't you let others fight, why did you die?' Harry questioned internally then suddenly he stood and out loud to the heavens said, "I forgive you! PLEASE, I FORGIVE YOU! I need you Sirius, please come back… I didn't mean it, come back, please, I can't do this alone, please come back. Please!" Harry fell to the ground as if the last statements had drained the life out of him. Tears streaming down his face right now Harry wanted Sirius more than ever, as he was the only one who would understand everything. Well, maybe Tonks would, but he wasn't quite ready for her to see him like this, it would just prove to her everything she suspected about him and make her realize how much of a bad deal she'd gotten out of Sirius's arrangement.

The last 'discussion' she had with him certainly showed that she was not happy at being with him not that he could blame her but he couldn't help thinking back to the events during the Christmas holidays.

* * *

Harry had been avoiding communication with Tonks since he found out he was to marry her; he had been alternating between anger at her for not telling him when she found out, and embarrassment at the potential ways in which their relationship would change. Every time he looked at her since he found out, he couldn't stop his imagination creating inappropriate images. After all, he was a 15-year-old male it was hard enough to keep his thoughts about Tonks decent without knowing that she would eventually be his wife, so he avoided looking at her in an attempt to get his hormones under control.

Unfortunately, Tonks did not interpret Harry's actions that way and came to the conclusion that he was so angry and appalled at the idea of marrying her that he couldn't bear to look at her.

For Harry, avoiding Sirius and Tonks was proving increasingly difficult; he didn't want to ruin anyone else's holiday, so he'd taken to hiding but people kept disturbing him. The knock at the door signaled he had been discovered again

"GO AWAY!"

Harry heard the lock turn and the door open he fixed his gaze out of the window not wanting to give them any encouragement.

"What part of 'go away' did you not understand? Leave me alone. If I wanted company, I would have found it already!" He turned round as he finished speaking.

It was then that he noticed who the intruder was, but it was already too late.

The now green-haired auror looked anything but happy.

"Harry, I don't know what you're expecting from me in the relationship and marriage we are bound to have, but I will tell you this now: the next time you talk to me in that tone, or treat me like I am responsible for this, husband or not, you _will_ regret it. I didn't have any choice in this, either, and I certainly don't deserve your teenage temper tantrum. I know this is a lot to take in, and I understand you're angry, I am too, but there's nothing either of us can do about it. If you can't respect and be polite to me right now, fine. After all, I have had some time to get my head round this, but I won't tolerate this forever! I wanted to choose my husband too, you know! This isn't just about you."

As Tonks paused to calm herself, Harry could help but think about how attractive she was when angry.

"We are going to need to sort this out, but right now I don't think either of us will get very far as I don't like who you are being right now." With that, she stormed out, on the verge of tears.

* * *

Harry felt so alone, and the irony in that didn't pass him by; 6 months ago, all he wanted was to be alone and, for once, he'd got his wish, except now that he had it, he really didn't want it. Part of him wanted to talk to Tonks, but she was now a large part of the problem. How could he be what she needed and deserved, even without the implications of the prophecy?

The last time he saw Tonks was when she escorted him and the Weasleys back to Hogwarts on the knight bus, and it was the most uncomfortable he'd ever been in her presence; neither looked at nor acknowledged the other. Harry felt so bad; he couldn't stop thinking about how he'd treated her. He was so distracted, even Ron noticed.

Not that it really mattered now, anyway; she wouldn't want to be with someone who caused her to get hurt and her cousin to die. Maybe the prophecy wasn't such a bad thing after all-it could give Harry a way to offer Tonks an escape from life with him. It was the least he could offer her.

Harry shook himself. Was he doing the right thing by Tonks? He really needed to talk to someone; he didn't know enough about women. Why did Sirius leave him with this? Moony was out, as the conversation would be too awkward; he wasn't ready for all the Weasleys to know, so Arthur was out. He certainly wouldn't tell Ron, since he was more clueless about women than Harry was and he would certainly be jealous regardless of the circumstances. The twins were out, as they would just use it as ammunition and make Harry's and Tonks' lives even more uncomfortable than it already was. He wasn't so oblivious to emotion to know Ginny was not an option and Hermione would just judge the situation and it would take her too long to get over her preconceptions. So he was back where he started, ALONE.

* * *

As he was getting ready to leave Hogwarts for the summer, Harry contemplated the one thing he decided to do as a result of Sirius's death and the prophecy coming to light. He had decided in the aftermath of ministry that the only way he could continue was to protect those who were important to him and the only way he could do that right now was to push them away. The problem was, that tactic really wasn't working. In fact, with Hermione and Ginny, it seemed to have the opposite effect; the harder he pushed them away the more persistent they became at being near him. Last night it took all his energy to stop an insistent Hermione from sharing his bed.

Tonks was nervous; she really didn't know how it was going to be, seeing Harry again-especially after everything that had happened since they last spoke. How was she supposed to act, how would he act with her, would he avoid her? Should she talk to him? Probably, but what should she say? Should she mention Sirius?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Moody. "Show time, girlie, _the muggles_ are at the entrance."

It had been decided by the Order members present that Harry's relatives needed a bit of threatening in order to ensure their cooperation and ensure Harry receive at least basic care given recent events.

Following Moody she was met with, "WHAT ARE THOSE RUDDY FREAKS UP TO NOW? IT'S BAD ENOUGH WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THE BOY, AND NOW THEY HAVE THE CHECK TO COME AND TELL US HOW TO TREAT THE RUNT?" Boomed the walrus like man currently exhibiting a puce completion. The horse face woman next to him, conscious of the audience, seemed to beg the walrus to tone it down. "Okay, Tuney, but I hate being told what to do by _his_ kind. It's not like they cared about the hooligan for the 10 years before he got into the bloody school, they should be grateful we take him back every summer."

Tonks did not like these people and that was currently exhibited by her red hair. She wanted to remonstrate with them, but she knew it wouldn't help Harry. It was people like this that gave muggles a bad name in the wizarding world. Having muggle grandparents, she knew that it didn't have to be like this, that there didn't need to be hatred. In Tonks's mind, it was reactions like this that furthered the pureblood cause. When faced with the likes of the Durleys, was it really surprising that wizards wanted nothing to do with muggles? It was amazing that Harry had turned out as loving and selfless as he had, and seeing his relatives like this helped her understand a lot of Harry's more annoying traits. How would anyone have any self-worth if this was what they grown up with? No wonder he often seemed to struggle being in social situations and physical interaction; it explained so much and Tonks vowed to herself at that moment that she would get Harry away from his relatives as soon as possible, and then she would spend the rest of her life undoing the damage inflicted on Harry by those awful people and, whether he liked or not, that started with getting him used to physical contact and, eventually, she would show him how a real family behaved.

**AN/ Thank you to my beta Proud Mudblood for his brilliant skills, thanks for all the reviews, favourites and alerts i couldnt believe it when the story passed the 100 review mark a couple of days ago. I never thought this story would get that far, it was just suppose to help with writers block. I really value the feedback and it has already caused me to alter the course of the story slightly. The next chapter is complete (as originally it was all 1 chapter but it got too long) and just awaiting the once over from my beta, so it shouldn't be too long. 14/4/12 thanks to alix33 for error spotting 28/12/12 thanks to POTTERPHILE for error spotting/AN**


	6. Chapter 6 Jailbreak

**an- Now beta'd thanks to Alix33–an **

Chapter 6 - Jailbreak

The Dursleys had not taken kindly to the Order's attempted intervention in Harry's summer living conditions and had been taking out their displeasure on him. This had been by far the hardest since he had started at Hogwarts. Between his relatives' new work plan and his grief for Sirius, eating and sleeping were not things he'd done much of since he arrived back at number 4 Privet Drive, 8 weeks ago and it showed but Harry didn't care.

His Order guard however did care. While Tonks had not been guarding Harry as she did not think she would be able to resist removing Harry from the hellhole he currently resided in, she was party to the Order's reports concerning her emerald-eyed husband-to-be and what she heard worried her. Apparently Harry was spending an inordinate number of hours doing housework and manual labour and hardly sleeping, the most sleep Harry had managed since arriving in Surrey was 4 hours and that was rare. Harry's new schedule was causing no amount of chaos in the Order because now the guard had to be prepared to be active with little notice in the event he may leave the house.

The impact on the order didn't bother Tonks she was far more concerned in the reports that Harry was loosing a lot of weight and it wasn't like he weighed a lot to start with. Worst still were the reports of bruises that seemed to be appearing with such frequency that nobody believed they were accidental. Thankfully for Tonks the day had almost arrived were she could intervene.

Harry was desperately trying to think of something positive in order to avoid yet another night filled with nightmares and the inevitable beating he would receive if he woke Vernon up again. Uncle Vernon had made it very clear he had 'had enough of his freaky night-time disturbances.' Vernon had not historically been physically violent towards Harry but the sleep deprivation combined with The Order's interferences were definitely pushing his boundaries and every few disturbances he had taken to unleashing his frustrations on his nephew. Strangely, Harry mused, the occasional beating didn't really bother him, in fact part of him felt like he deserved it for all the pain and devastation he'd caused to others over the last few years: his Mum, Dad, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Sirius, Cedric, Dudley, Mr. Weasley, Cho and Tonks were just few he'd hurt. That being said he really wanted a decent night's sleep, the problem was whenever he tried to think happy thoughts he was brought back to Sirius and any progress was destroyed.

After an hour of trying and failing to fall asleep Harry headed to the window. It was now 11.55pm. This was not how he'd hoped to spend the last 5 minutes before his 16th birthday but maybe he could play spot the guard to kill some time because despite the fact that he was supposed to be unaware of his watchmen, the motley crew of guards meant you'd have to be dead not to notice them. He wondered who was out there tonight. He hadn't heard snores or smelt fire whiskey for a while so that eliminated Dung, maybe Moody or Bill. He doubted it would be Remus. He seemed to take day shifts. He was pretty sure Tonks hadn't been on duty as he hoped she'd have made her presence known by now especially after their conversation at King's Cross, Harry guessed her absence was because of her injuries. Thinking about the young auror unconsciously brought a small smile to his lips as his mind reverted back to their last encounter …

Exiting the train Harry just wanted to get on with it, 'keeping uncle Vernon waiting is not a good idea, especially after the dementors' thought Harry having quickly said goodbye to Ron, Neville, Luna, Ginny and Hermione despite the latter two's fussing. Quickly shuffled through the awaiting crowds trying not to draw attention to himself as he headed to the main station to his traditional pickup point, designated by his uncle as ' being far enough away from all that unnaturalness'.

Spotting the walrus in question he couldn't help but think 'Bugger' as he noticed his uncle is not alone and his complexion was rapidly approaching violet - never a good sign. Hastening his pace, hoping that damage control was still an available option, Harry closed the gap between him and his relative. He was just about to enter this uncle's visual field when he felt a hand lightly rest on his shoulder. Still on edge from the recent battle, Harry released his trolley and spun on the spot, brandishing his wand, ready to attack, only to find his 'attacker' was none other than Nymphadora Tonks, whose balance center was struggling to handle the unexpected movement Harry's reaction necessitated. Harry, not even fully comprehending what he was doing, drew the auror towards his chest in an attempt to stabilize her and prevent her almost inevitable fall. However, he had failed to account for the force of Tonks body on his own stumbling. Harry managed to stay upright but in the process he had pulled Tonks even tighter to him and unfortunately his body automatically began to respond to being in close proximity to a fine example of the female form. It was a minute before either party involved processed their current position. Harry reacted first, gently pushing Tonks away while his cheeks flushed. Harry then opted to focus his gaze firmly on his shoes in an attempt to avoid further inciting anger from his current companion.

''Erm … sorry Tonks' Harry mumbled quietly as he began to turn back to his abandoned trolley but a hand stopped him. A second hand gently placed itself under his chin forcing Harry's gaze upwards until he was now in eye contact with Tonks. He noticed a slight blush and smile across her facial features.

'Harry, you have nothing to be sorry for.' Tonks supplied with a hint of something Harry couldn't place in her tone.

'Thank you for preventing my fall, I'm more clumsy than normal at the moment, if you believe that's possible' she said with a grin 'I'm still recovering from our last adventure'.

Harry felt his features tighten at the last statement.

'Harry James Potter, don't you dare blame yourself for my injuries! You did not make me go there or fight and you did not curse me, my current condition is the fault of a few death munchers including dear aunty as well as myself and certainly not you!'

He couldn't allow Tonks to take responsibility for his stupidity 'but' Harry tried and failed to remonstrate.

'Harry, the only but I want to hear you talk about is my backside,' Tonks said with a wink.

'Now we've got the blame game out of the way, can we get back to why I tried to stop you before you thrust your wands at me,' a smirking Tonks stated.

. 'Okay, but can I say something first, I didn't know you would be here today but I feel I owe an apology for what happened at Christmas, I've been thinking a lot since then and I know I was out of order and thanks for bringing me in line. I know you are just as much a victim of this as me if not more so 'cause you're stuck with me when you could have anyone and you're so amazing and all I am is this giant target and now you're in the firing line too... and I have no idea how to handle this or how to be what you need or how to be in a relationship, Merlin I've only snogged one girl and that was a disaster.'

'Breathe, Harry, I definitely want to hear the story behind that kiss later, but it can wait. I wanted to let you know I tried to get Dumbledore to let you come with me for the summer, I even told him about the contract but he wouldn't budge. Don't worry, apart from my parents no one else knows and I made Albus vow to keep it that way. He promised me he'd get you out as soon as it's safe to. When you're free of those delightful relatives of yours we will sit and talk about the contract and what it means for us but I wanted you to know I'm fighting for you, you're not alone and I don't blame you for anything, okay?'

Harry nodded

'I wanted a chance to properly meet the future in-laws instead of sneaking round their home in the middle of the night and I must say they live up to all the descriptions. I'm particularly impressed by the colours your uncle can turn his face. You're sure he's not a latent metamorph?'

'Positive' replied Harry with a cheeky smile.

'Let me know if they cause you any trouble, I'd take great pleasure acquainting them with my wand.' Then she leant over and kissed him on the cheek.

Reveling in the memory of that brief contact between his cheek and her lips Harry headed back to his bed to try and sleep again.

* * *

Tonks sat in the corner of the dilapidated room, waiting for the ebony-haired male who had driven so many of her thoughts and actions in the last year to wake. She hated the room. It was so devoid of comfort, love or attention. With sorrow Tonks reflected that the room's state was probably very representative of Harry's treatment in this house.

She'd been at Harry's since dawn and it had taken all her willpower not to wake Harry up but she'd quashed her natural impatience and excitement the moment she saw Harry. He looked so peaceful and unburdened. He seemed to actually having a restful night's sleep and based on Order intelligence this was probably a first for the summer. With little else to do in the small room, having already packed Harry's visible belongings, she settled down and began studying her husband-to-be at rest. He was so thin, too thin, but she could see he had potential, she appreciated his decision to sleep topless but somehow she doubted it was through his choice, more likely those blasted relatives who really didn't deserve someone as special as Harry. When this was over, she would be having words with her extended family-to-be but in the light of evils that needed to be dealt with unfortunately they were near the bottom of the list right now but they would definitely get what was coming to them if she had any say in it.

From admiring his torso, Tonks moved up to take in Harry's face. Although she'd vehemently deny it if ever called out on it, like many witches and quite a few wizards Tonks had always found Harry's eyes captivating. They possessed such depth and showed so much emotion she could lose herself in them, even before their situation was revealed. However Harry's eyes were so mesmerizing that apart from his scar and his messy locks she had never really taken in his features but without his eyes to distract her she set about really looking at him for the first time. He was truly handsome or at least she thought so.

It was now heading to 8 am and Tonks was getting restless. She didn't know how Harry was going to take her plan for today. She'd been mentally compiling a list of things she wanted to discuss with him over the next 24 hours. After their last few encounters Tonks was nervous, it was difficult to anticipate Harry's reaction to being alone with her let alone trying to meaningfully discuss their issues, she just hoped it would be alright. The events of the last few weeks had been a reality check and she knew she wanted to make the most of life including her relationship with Harry whatever that was.

After Dumbledore had come to terms with the revelation that Tonks was contracted to Harry and had stopped panicking, Albus had been trying to get Tonks onside and had suggested Tonks be the one to collect Harry. She had jumped at the chance having heard such distressing reports but now she wondered if she was right.

Ideally they would have the rest of the summer to sort stuff out but unfortunately the secret nature of their connection and the lack of space in Tonks's flat for security meant that she and Harry could only have 24 hours alone before normal summer service resumed and Harry was shipped off to the Burrow. A major change in Harry's summer routine would raise too many questions with those closest to Harry and neither she or Harry were ready for the truth to out.

Tonks's thoughts were interrupted by a slight groan and movement from across the room. That was all the encouragement Tonks needed to stride across the room and jump on top of a sleepy and unsuspecting Harry Potter.

The movement of a fit young women jumping up and down on your bed like a child on Christmas morning while giving an off-key rendition of "Happy birthday" is one very effective wake up tool. It took Harry's brain quite a long time to process his current situation and when his brain caught up he was caught between embarrassment and utter confusion.

"Tonks it's great to see you but what are you doing here?" he asked confusedly

"Well Harry I don't know whether I should be offended or proud. Most guys wouldn't question waking up to a beautiful woman in their bed' Harry flushed.

Tonks noticed that his flush went quite a long way down his torso and it brought her attention the full effect of her presence was having on her future husband and she couldn't help but grin.

"Harry, I'm your birthday present," she said with a wink while getting off the bed and sauntering back to her former spot next to the window giving Harry a bit of a show, making him squirm

'Don't worry Harry, I don't mean that kind of present... I'm here to aid your jail breakout. Dumbledore agreed that I should have the privilege of escorting you out of this hellhole. It may have had something to do with the wand I had pointed at him or the threat of removing you from the country but Albus has graciously suggested that you spend the next 24 hours with me. Well really he didn't have much choice considering that now Sirius has been declared dead I became the holder of your magical guardianship but I don't really fancy having to hide from The Order as well as the death munchers. Plus we won't have access to your Black or Potter inheritances until you come of age next summer and I'm not sure how long we'd last in hiding on my savings or your trust fund.'

Harry 's eyes went wide. At all this information his brain was going crazy 'Tonks was now responsible for me, well that's weird how many guys have their wife-to-be as their guardian, does that mean she can order me to do stuff? Tonks wouldn't do that, would she?'

Tonks broke Harry's thoughts with an abrupt 'Harry I've been in this house far too long for my liking, so can you get dressed so we can get the hell out of here'

'Yeah, erm sorry do you mind waiting outside while I get changed?'

'No probs, Potter, although I'd been looking forward to a preview all morning,' Tonks stated as she was exiting Harry's room.

Harry had never got dressed quicker and moved onto removing his magical stash from under the floorboards. There was a soft knock on the door before Tonks re-entered the room. 'All packed?' she enquired, Harry nodded and with her wand Tonks sent his luggage somewhere 'Don't worry you'll be reunited later, but first we have some shopping to do. My birthday present to you, Harry, is a new muggle wardrobe.' Before he had time to think Tonks had grabbed his hand and led him to an alleyway next to number 4 then before he could question their location he experienced the strangest sensation, if he was pushed to describe it, it was similar to what he imagined it would be like to be sucked through a hose in complete darkness. Almost as soon as it began, it ended and Harry noticed he was no long in Privet Drive, in fact he had no idea where he was, but he was currently suppressing the urge to be sick. Winning his battle, he turned to Tonks and yanked his hand out of hers.

TONKS what the hell was that?' Harry almost screamed.

A sheepish looking Tonks replied ' Oops I guess you've never side-a-long apparated before.' More to herself than Harry she added 'Makes sense I guess.'

'Harry, apparation is a common magical means of magical transportation, in fact, this year you'll receive lessons in school to learn how to do it. It's a bit like the muggle idea of teleportation, in fact, I think that's where the muggles got the idea from after seeing a few careless magicals appear out of nowhere.

'Well I don't want to do that again in a hurry, I think I'll learn to drive thanks, that's worse than the floo.' This earnestness of this statement made Tonks burst out in laugher.

'I'm serious, Tonks, that was horrible' 'It gets better, you'll get used to it.' Ignoring Harry's grumbled 'Don't wanna get use to it' Tonks pulled him forward and it was clear they were standing in front of a muggle shopping centre but it wasn't familiar to Harry so certainly not one that Harry had been made to wait outside of before.

'Where are we, Tonks?' 'This is Meadow Hall, Harry, muggle shopping at its best. Although it's unlikely that any purebloods will be around here I better give you a couple of glamours.' With a couple of flicks of her wand Harry was now sporting blue eyes and shaggy brown hair that more than covered the scar.

'Right, let's get started. I don't want to be here all day, although given my culinary skills we should probably stay for lunch.'

Three hours later, fed and laden with shopping, Tonks and Harry headed towards the alley. Tonks was pleased with herself. Harry now had plenty of decent clothing and a perk of being the purchaser was it was all stuff that matched her tastes and preferences mainly because Harry had expressed none except regarding underwear. While there they also got him some new glasses and contacts and she managed to sneak in a few purchases for herself that maybe one day Harry would appreciate.

Ignoring the whine from Harry of 'Not again' Tonks apparated again this time Harry was faced with the image of a messy flat, that just screamed "Tonks": there was a weird mix of magical and muggle items, the random brightly coloured wall. The clothing and magazines jettisoned across the room an indication that Tonks had better things to do than be tidy. There was kitchen with a breakfast bar and 2 doors off to the side Harry guessed one was a bathroom meaning the other must be Tonks' bedroom. It was so different from the Dursleys or The Burrow but it felt comfortable.

'Welcome to my humble abode, sorry about the mess.'

'It's alright, I like it' 'Good, coz you're going to be here for the night. Dumbledore will come after lunch tomorrow to take you to The Burrow. I informed old blue eyes that we needed some quality time to get to know each other better and talk through some things and it helped that he could not really argue.'

Plonking herself on the sofa, she motioned for Harry to join her. Harry followed her request, but chose to sit as far from her as possible. Tonks wasn't having it and turned towards Harry and scooted over to Harry until there was only a couple of millimetres separating them, providing plenty of opportunities for to accidently touch and for Harry to get used to being in physical contact with her. She then took Harry by surprise by leaning over him to reach a book which she handed directly to him 'I think we should chill out a bit before we get onto the heavy stuff. I thought, given your activities this year with that army of yours, you might enjoy that, although I'm sure there's a quidditch mag around here somewhere.'

Harry looked down at the spine of the book he had just received: _Obscure Defenses: Little known charms and shields by Edwin Fitz._ '

'No this fine, thanks,' Harry said, hoping that this would cause Tonks to move a bit further away. He really wasn't used to anyone apart from Hermione invading his personal space so much and it made him feel uneasy. Tonks appeared to accept his answer and proceeded to make herself comfortable on the sofa. Leaning back against the arm of the sofa with her feet now resting against Harry's thigh, she pulled out a magazine and started reading.

For a couple hours the pair sat in companionable silence, both enjoying the change in pace. Tonks had worked her way through a couple of magazines and was now discreetly observing her companion. Tonks noticed that his expression had been getting darker and more despondent over the last 20 minutes. She decided drastic action was in order, it was his birthday after all. With a plan in her head, Tonks sat up and moved over to Harry and without invitation grabbed Harry's jeans and started an attempt to lower them. Unsurprisingly this caused Harry to yelp in surprise and jump of the sofa as if he'd been burned.

'What in the name of Merlin are you doing?'

'Trying to see if Witch Weekly had got its facts right, apparently you've got a snitch magically tattooed on your thigh and I thought a bit of research was in order.'

'You could have just asked me, you know.'

'Yes but where's the fun in that?' answered with a wink.

'I don't have one, okay,' Harry supplied somewhat grumpily

'Are you gonna come and keep me company on the couch again? I was enjoying your company' 'Promise not to try and divest me of my clothes?'

'Oh I can't promise that, Harry, Witch Weekly would be most unimpressed with me if I did and I can't disappoint them,' Tonks replied flirtingly, hoping that she wasn't pushing Harry too far for one day and hoping that he could hear the joke in her tone. Harry didn't respond but did sit back down. Deciding she could put it off no longer Tonks summed up her courage and opened her mouth.

' I'm guessing from the fact you haven't shouted at me much today that I'm no longer in your bad books over this contract.'

'Yeah, sorry, it's you should be angry at me. You deserve so much better than being stuck with a schoolboy who gets everyone he loves killed.'

'Harry, while I would rather not be in this contract that has nothing to do with you, please believe that.' Harry could have sworn her eyes got larger as she said that.

' I am grateful it's you, if it had to be anyone. At least we get on and you see me for who and not what I am plus you've got potential on the looks front. I just wish I had had control over my own future.'

'Me too,' supplied Harry wistfully, but he wasn't just thinking about the contract.

'You might still get to choose your future,' Harry said somewhat glumly.

Tonks' brain whirled at this statement. 'Harry surely you know there's no way out of this contract.'

'Tonks, that's not strictly true, if one of us dies then after two years the survivor can marry.' 'Harry, you're scaring me, I know things have been bad lately but promise me you won't do anything to harm yourself'

' I won't ,Tonks, I couldn't. I'm not brave enough for that,' the vulnerability and the sincerity of Harry's tone shocked the metamorph.

Without realizing it her hair was becoming limp and black, reflecting the mood and the occupants of the room. Almost inaudibly she swore she heard Harry say 'It's not me you have to worry about.'

'Well then, how can you talk about the possibility of your death so easily?'

'Well, when you're Harry Potter, life and death situations are never too far away and at least I'd be with my family.'

' Do you know Occlumency?'

'Yes it's part of auror's core training, why?'

'I'm about to tell you something about me you need to know, you have a right to know just what Sirius and your parents have got you into.'

'Did you know what The Order were guarding in the department of mysteries?'

'Dumbledore said it was a weapon in the war against Voldemort.'

'Well you have guarded a weapon but not where you think.'

'Just over 16 years ago a prophecy was made about the downfall of Voldemort, that was what the battle in the department of mysteries was all about but as you know during the battle the prophecy was destroyed, however Dumbledore was the person who was originally told the prophecy and after what happened in the ministry he decided it was time that the prophecy was shared with me so on the night he brought me back for the battle he told me it. It goes as follows:

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..._"*

"Oh Harry" stated Tonks as she processed what he had just said but Harry didn't stop to allow her any more time he needed to get this all out and he knew if he stopped he would not be able to finish.

'Originally the prophecy could have been about one of two children but following the information a spy who overheard the first two lines Voldemort made a decision that would choose the one who would have the power to stop him the night he came after my family and gave me this scar. Now you know why you're the unlucky one but at least if I get killed taking down the bastard you will be free and let's face it, I really don't stand a chance so please think about your future and what you want to do with it as it is unlikely I'll be part of it.'

'Harry, please don't talk like that, I don't know what you think of me but know without a doubt if I had to choose between you being dead or me being married to you. I would choose marriage every time. I may not love you and nor you me but you are special, Harry James Potter, and it's not the prophecy or that scar that makes you special, it's your soul. You deserve to live and have a future and if that future has to be with me so be it but never give yourself so little value. Ignoring any of the other crap surrounding your name, you yourself are worth it, even I can see that.'

'All I get, is the people I love killed so.. 'HARRY' Tonks screamed while grabbing hold of his thigh so as to stop any getaway 'Stop this pity party! People in war die, there would still be death even if you never existed and from all I've been told and seen there would probably have been a lot more, so stop blaming yourself. I will take you not putting 100% effort into surviving and bringing Voldemort down as a personal insult and when I get to the other side I will hunt down your scrawny backside and make you suffer! Now that we've established you can't get rid of me that easily, we should really grab some dinner before we talk about what we're going to do about this contract.

Meal completed with a butterbeer in hand, they headed back to the sofa and retook their positions.

'Harry, did Sirius show you the contract between us? Harry shook his head, not trusting his voice. 'How much did he tell you about the contract?'

'Not much, just that death was the only way out, that I had to be careful what I did with females who I are not my intended as I could unintentionally breach a restriction and cause a penalty to be invoked, that you are my intended and that he did this because I'm going to be lord Potter & Black next year.'

'Would you like to see my copy of the contract, I can get it from Gringotts if you want to see it before your next birthday?'

'No it's alright, I trust you'll tell me the important bits. She proceeds to explain most of what she understood of the contract.

'Oh and we have to have at least 2 kids.' Tonks added causally This caused Harry to choke on his butterbeer .

'What?'

'You can't tell me you've never thought about having kids.'

'Yes I can, I'm a 16 year old male, of course I haven't thought about kids, I'm only just getting my head around the fact that I have to get married before I turn 21.'

'About that: because it so far before we have to marry, I think it'll be safer for both of us if we keep this to ourselves until Voldemort's gone or you turn 20 whichever's first.'

'Okay' Harry didn't have a problem with that and he certainly didn't want to put Tonks in any additional danger.

Discussion of the child requirements forgotten, Tonks stood up. 'Harry I know today's been hard going and certainly not the best way to spend your birthday but I'm really glad we've had this conversation and thank you for trusting me. It's getting late, we should probably get to bed.'

'Where should I sleep?' asked Harry curiously Tonks blushed

' I'm afraid I don't have much space but I've expanded my bed and I thought we could share as we will probably have to eventually, I promise I won't do anything but sleep.'

'I don't mind sleeping on the couch, Tonks'

'Don't be ridiculous, Potter, the bed's big enough for the both of us, you can even make a pillow wall if you wish but I saw that bed you were sleeping in at that house and there is no way I'm adding a night on the sofa to that backbreaking bed. I'm gonna get ready for bed. If you're not there in 20 minutes, I will come and find you.' with that Tonks disappeared to the bathroom.

15 minutes later a very sheepish Harry appeared in the doorway of Tonks's room wondering how on earth he ended up in this situation and the answer was simple: Sirius. 'Well, I hope you're enjoy this, Padfoot, coz I'm not,' Harry thought to himself.

'Which side do you sleep on, Harry?'

'Erm no idea'

'Okay, just get in'

Awkwardly Harry got into the bed, making sure he was as far away as possible from his bed mate. Tonks waved her wand and plunged them into darkness.

'Night Tonks'

* * *

'Cedric PLEASE not Cedric, Sirius NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO'

The sound of Harry's screams woke Tonks abruptly. Wand in hand, she turned to the source of the sound and what she saw broke her heart. Harry was violently wrestling the bedding, tears streaming down his cheeks, still in a deep sleep. Instinct took over and destroying the pillow wall Harry had erected she scooted over to Harry and hugged herself to his flailing body and brought her hand up to his forehead and gently stroked his forehead while murmuring

'Shh Harry it's ok, it's just a dream. '

She couldn't help but wonder if anyone had ever done this for Harry before. Having seen his 'family,' somehow she doubted it.

After a few minutes of her ministrations Harry calmed down. However in his still unconscious state he surprised her by turning towards her and snuggling into to her. It felt so comfortable, so right, she'd been in positions like this before but it had never felt like this and she wasn't even in an intimate relationship with him yet. She cursed her sense of nobility knowing that they were likely to get in an even more compromising position which would mortify Harry and reverse the progress she'd made with Harry today around physical contact. He still flinched but it had only been a day and he had giving up resisting her attempts.

Tonks attempted to move away from Harry slightly but he was having none of it and was pulling himself closer to her, so she just had to go for it knowing Harry would not feel comfortable in the light of day. 'Harry honey, you had a nightmare and now I need to get back to my side of the bed' Tonks cooed while gently shaking the young man currently surrounding her.

Harry felt a warm comforting presence but he had no idea what it was. He'd never felt anything like this before. He gradually began to regain consciousness and he realized someone was talking to him. He definitely wasn't at Privet Drive, he didn't think he was dead, it didn't smell like Hogwarts. Slowly his mind began processing his last memories. Tonks coming to collect him, him being Tonks real dress up doll, telling her the prophecy and going to bed. His eyes shoot open to see the soft comforting warmth was in fact Tonks. That was enough to accelerate his wake up. He all but jumped away from Tonks causing him to fall out of the bed onto the floor.

'Harry, Harry, are you ok?' You were having a nightmare and I was comforting you but you didn't seem to want to let you go.' Tonks supplied, blushing.

'Tonks, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, sorry I'll go set myself up on the sofa,' Harry said in a hurry.

Before Tonks could say anything, Harry had rushed out of the room and as much as she wanted to go after him and tell him it was alright and she had been quite happy she didn't want make him even more uncomfortable or things between them awkward.

* * *

Unfortunately the next morning was awkward, both of them felt guilty for their actions the night before despite the fact that the actions on both sides were completely innocent and unplanned. They barely spoke to one another during the morning and any unintentional physical contact led to alternately blushes, which would have highly amused an onlooker.

By the time Dumbledore arrived both of them were eager to escape the tension and the guilt of secretly enjoying the situation they'd found themselves in the night before.

* * *

Harry arrived at the Burrow with Dumbledore in the early evening after being paraded like a prize in front of Slughorn only to discover that he had been used to facilitate Snape's transfer to the defense against the dark arts post. He was seething and wanted to get as far as possible from the headmaster. As soon as his feet touched the ground at the Burrow, he marched away from the headmaster without looking back.

He just heard Dumbledore's 'see you in September Harry, give Molly my greetings' Entering the Burrow he saw the woman in question sitting at the kitchen table talking to someone currently out of sight. Moving closer he made himself known to the Weasley matriarch.

' I'm sure it will work itself out, dear, things always do.' Getting closer he realized Molly's companion was one he really didn't want to see right now. 'Oh hello, Harry dear, I didn't see you there. Did Dumbledore just drop you off?' Molly asked.

Harry nodded. 'Oh, happy birthday dear, we wanted to get you here earlier so that you could have a party here, but Albus said it wasn't possible this time, no mind though, we'll have a party tomorrow instead,' Molly continued, unaware of the discomfort the room's two other occupants were feeling right now.

'You look awfully thin, dear, did you get any food while out with the headmaster? Harry shook his head. He could have sworn he heard Molly mutter something like 'irresponsible … you think he'd know better.' 'Well, we'll have to do something about that. There's some soup on the stove. Take a seat and I'll get you some.' Molly fussed Harry took the seat opposite Tonks but looked anywhere but her.

'Hiya Harry' Tonks supplied coyly Harry looked up to see Tonks was not sporting her normal neon pink spikes, instead, her hair was limp brown and shoulder length.

'Hi Tonks'

'How's your summer been?' Tonks asked, aware that their conversation was probably being overheard.

Harry was confused, but played along 'Same as always. Dumbledore picked me up and dragged to recruit a new potions master and my success now means I'm stuck with Snape in DADA,' Harry ended, barely suppressing his annoyance.

Tonks felt sorry for Harry, she knew how acrimonious his relationship with the Slytherin professor was and now he'd be teaching Harry's most important subject. Did Albus want Harry to learn nothing?

'What's that about a new professor, dear?' Molly said as she entered, soup in hand.

'There's a new potions master, professor Slughorn'

'Oh I remember him. He taught Bill in first year.'

'Speaking of Bill, Nymphadora, you really must pop round next time he's home. I know he would love to see you'

Tonks shifted uncomfortably at Molly's unsubtle matchmaking. That was her fifth or sixth comment this evening. Very obviously looking at her watch, Tonks said ' Oh, look at the time, I really better be off. Thanks for the tea and advice, Molly.'

'Any time, dear, any time.' With that Tonks stood and securing her cloak, she headed to the back door, contemplating what she should do about Harry.

'Bye Molly, Harry. See you soon.' With that, Tonks exited into the night unaware of the emerald eyes that were following her departure with a great deal of interest and a little bit of longing.

*Rowling, J.K., _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_


	7. Chapter 7 Healing

**beta'd by Alix33  
**

Chapter 7 Healing

Harry was relaxing in the orchard at The Burrow looking over at the pond. He loved the Weasleys and The Burrow but for someone who had spent so much of his childhood alone sometimes the hustle and bustle was just too much. Knowing that quiet contemplation was likely to be hard to obtain once back at Hogwarts Harry had taken to wandering around The Burrow's land whenever the opportunity presented itself, which hadn't been frequent. Fortunately when he had managed to find some alone time The Burrow's other inhabitants seemed to sense Harry's desire for solitude and rarely disturbed him.

Despite the recency of Sirius's death and being overwhelmed at points, the last 3 weeks had been some of the best Harry had spent at The Burrow. They had been filled with quidditch, daydreaming and food. Molly seemed to be on a mission to fatten Harry up, she kept commenting that he needed 'more meat on his bones.' it almost reminded Harry of the witches in some of the muggle fairy-tales read to him at primary school although he was certain there was no malicious intent in Molly's actions.

Harry ruminated on why this summer had been better than the last, part of it had been getting to know Ginny better. She was no longer the blushing and stuttering kid sister of his best friend but was well on her way to becoming a good friend in her own right. Harry had found himself often sat next to the petite redhead at meals. Although his blossoming friendship with Ginny added to the Burrow's charms, the predominant reason for Harry's enjoyable summer lay squarely at the feet of a certain metamorph.

They hadn't really had much alone time since her flat, and when they were alone on a couple of occasions there had been an air of awkwardness about it, but Tonks's energy was infectious and her presence seemed to result in fun for all, except the gnomes.

Somehow, since Harry's arrival, Tonks had managed to visit the Burrow every couple of days, for a few hours and normally including one of Molly's amazing meals. Molly seemed a bit perplexed by Tonks' frequent visits but she was never one to turn away a mouth to feed. It escaped no one's attention that Molly was using Tonks's presence as an opportunity to get her eldest son away from Fleur. There were numerous scenarios constructed by Molly that required Tonks and Bill. As the weeks had gone on the set-ups had got more ridiculous. Last night Molly wanted an auror's opinion on Bill's most recently constructed wards and despite Tonks' protests that she wasn't qualified, Molly was having none of it and ordered the pair outside.

While annoyed at Molly's blatant attempts at manipulation, Tonks had quickly established with Bill that she was not interested in him, which relaxed them both, allowing everyone to enjoy the humour of the situation. Although Harry couldn't help the pangs of jealousy that seemed to appear from nowhere and congregate in his chest whenever he saw Bill with Tonks.

At least Fleur could publicly stake her claim to Bill, as much as part of Harry seemed to want to stake his claim to the pink-haired witch had enough sense to know any attempts by him to do so would not go down well with anyone including his intended. Anyway the desire to stake his claim on Tonks, itself confusing him slightly it's not like they'd spent much time together, loved each other or got very far with their 'relationship' Harry put his reaction down to the contract under the 'Merlin knows what stipulations Sirius might have put in the contract for a laugh' possibility.

However overall Harry loved having Tonks around and getting to know her better even if it was mainly in group situations. He was beginning to realize just how lucky he was to be her betrothed and the more time went on the less he was resenting Sirius' actions although he couldn't help but wish he could attract someone as brilliant as Dora without it being through force.

'Dora' that was what he'd started his future wife in his head; Merlin knows what Tonks would say if she knew, but thankfully she didn't and he remained un-hexed. He just couldn't keep calling her Tonks. It seemed detached and impersonal now, for some reason, maybe it was the daydreams he'd been having since that night at her flat.

He was beginning to wonder, though, if she had somehow rescued a time-turner from the department of mysteries as there was no way she could be spending so much time at the Burrow and working full-time as an auror. Harry was pulled out of his contemplation by the sound of footsteps approaching. Turning quickly, wand in hand, he saw the subject of his thoughts approaching tentatively.

'Wotcher Harry' Tonks stated softly, drawing closer to him. 'I wasn't sure if I was intruding on something but I when I saw you out here I thought I better take the opportunity before Molly spots me.'

'It's okay, Dora,' both blushed at Harry's address but neither commented and Harry continued 'I was just thinking and enjoying the quiet.'

'Oh, okay sorry for disturbing you, I was just thinking we haven't had much time alone together since you got here and you're off to Hogwarts in a few days and I don't know when we'll get another opportunity like this to talk.'

Harry wasn't used to this placid, tentative version of Tonks. It was so at odds to her normal bold self - it made him a little nervous. Tonks looked like she was contemplating leaving and he realised he didn't want her to go.

'Please stay' he said quietly. Tonks plonked herself next to Harry and took in the view. Harry was very aware that she was only a few millimetres away and he hated how awkward he felt at the awareness of her closeness.

'We haven't had as much time together as I hoped this summer, Harry. I'm sorry. I'd forgotten how intense Molly can be.' Tonks started with a little humour.

'Yeah, who knows what situation Molly will construct today to put you and Bill together.' Was Harry's emotionless reply.

'You know there's no attraction between me and Bill, right?' Tonks asked nervously, why she was nervous Harry wasn't sure.

'Yeah, even Ron can see nothing's going to happen between you two and that's saying something. I think Molly's the only one who can't.'

'Glad it's that obvious, I wouldn't want you getting the wrong idea.' Neither followed up that statement, enjoying the companionable silence for a while.

'You know that night I spent at your flat was the best night's sleep I remember having' Harry was cursing himself internally, why did he say that, it was like his mouth ran away with him. During his self-chastisement he missed the contented look that passed over Tonks face at the memory.

One awkward sentence seemed to clear away the discomfort that they'd felt around one another since that night. With the awkwardness gone they started talking amicably to one another and Ginny found the pair playfully shoving each other while laughing away two hours later.

Bored, she was bored out of her mind and that made her feel agitated as boredom never sat well with her. Boredom was something that annoyed her about being an auror, nobody ever told you about the boredom before you became one. Being on duty in Hogsmeade was even worse than Diagon Alley. Nothing ever happened in this village, not even the odd shoplifter.

She'd been here 5 weeks and the most excitement and fear she'd felt was on her 2nd day. Yet again the focus of this activity had been her Harry but then again he was the whole reason she'd volunteered to be stationed in the village in the first place.

She had thoroughly enjoyed the time she'd spent with Harry even if little of it had been one on one. The time with Harry had allowed her an opportunity, she had a feeling few would ever get – the chance to get to know the real Harry Potter; not the hero of the wizarding world but the 16 year old guy who always put others first, who was so honourable it was painful, the relatively quiet guy who seemed to revel in just being included and the who guy who enjoyed nothing more than flying on lazy summer afternoon.

Without any more bombshells Harry had actually learnt to relax a bit over the summer despite the feeling of impending doom that was spreading across the wizarding world and she certainly liked what she saw of this Harry. Although she and Harry had only managed to overcome the awkwardness between them a couple days before, she hoped that with her being based near Hogwarts there would be more opportunities for them to see each other. Unfortunately Harry's arrival in Hogsmeade on the 1st showed that this year at Hogwarts was not going to be conducive to Harry or herself relaxing. She still vividly remembered fear that had gripped her when she'd noticed Harry wasn't with any of his friends exiting the express…

'Where are you, Harry?' Tonks thought while overseeing the students' transfer from the station to the carriages.

'Only one way to find out' she thought as she was trying to suppress the feeling of unease that was building inside her. "Wotcher, guys, how was your journey?" Tonks casually asked Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Dean, Neville and Luna as they boarded the carriages. The sextuplet were some of the last students to exit the train. 'Oh, it was okay nothing special,' supplied Ron, grumpily looking surprised at the auror's presence. 'Oh Ron, just because you didn't get an invite to The Slug Club, no need to take it out on Tonks.' Hermione exclaimed Before Hermione could rile up Ron more or question Tonks's presence, Tonks pressed on with her discrete questioning, not wanting to be sidetracked.

'What have you done with Harry? Did he go ahead of you?' She asked in a superficially light tone that was accepted by the group although Luna and Hermione looked slightly suspicious but thankfully chose not to mention it.

'Don't know, he said to me and Ginny he'd see us later after we left The Slug club that Professor Slughorn held on the train, that was about 30 minutes before we got here.' replied Neville.

'Okay, well say hi from me when you see him and let him know he might see me around as my team's been stationed here at Hogsmeade for the school year as a security measure now You-Know-Who has officially returned. Anyway, I'm on duty, so better get back to work. See ya' She didn't want to worry Harry's friends but she couldn't shake the feeling in her gut that something was wrong. She quickly moved back towards the train. As she went she noticed some Slytherin stragglers: first two gorilla sized boys, then a pug-faced girl and then a considerable distance behind, her smug-looking cousin Draco. When Draco saw who was passing him, Tonks couldn't help but notice his smug look slip a little.

'A smug looking Malfoy is never a good sign.' she thought to herself. The look on Draco's face was doing nothing to ease her concern over Harry. She knew all too well the antagonism that existed between her cousin and her fiancé from what Sirius, Harry and even some order members had told her.

Deciding the best course of action was to check the train, she quickened her pace and jumped on the express quickly. Making her way down the train, she checked each carriage with a series of spells including _homo revlious_. Only two coaches left and she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or concerned that so far she'd found nothing.

Entering the last passenger carriage, she immediately noticed the blinds were all closed, which was odd and set her on edge. She proceeded to cast her spells and swore under her breath, she crouched to the ground and began groping the ground in front of her. Feeling a silky substance she gently lifted it off.

The image before her elicited a sympathetic moan of 'oh Harry' from the young auror before she could stop herself. Tonks quickly followed it with a ridiculously upbeat 'Wotcher Harry'*.

Unfortunately the greeting also signalled the starting up of the empress's engine. Tonks quickly muttered the counter curses and dragged Harry to the end of the train. 'Come on, we'll jump'* Tonks said quickly.

Once they'd landed on the platform Tonks took the chance to look Harry over more thoroughly. At a minimum he definitely had a broken nose. She gently brought her hand up and stroked his face. If anyone asked she'd claim that she was checking his injuries but the shiver that touch sent through her suggested it was anything but medical in intent. Unfortunately Harry flinched at the touch.

'Sorry, did I accidentally hit a sore spot?' Harry nodded somewhat dumbly. 'Do I need to ask who did this to you?' Tonks asked. The dark look that crossed Harry's face said it all. 'The Ferret, of course,' Harry all but growled. Tonks could see he needed calming so tentatively she began to rub Harry's back, hoping nobody was watching. It seemed to have the desired effect as the next sentence from his lips was said in a much calmer tone 'There's no point complaining, even with Daddy in the company of dementors he will find a way to blame me.' Wanting to avoid a Malfoy based rant Tonks changed that subject.

'It's a good job Auror training includes basic healing training as I think with you as my husband I'm going to need it, let's get you fixed up. Are you hurt anywhere else apart from your face?' Harry shook his head 'Okay, this will hurt, I'm afraid, _Episkey_'

Tonks couldn't help herself, Her hand instinctively reached for his face again. It was like she was magnetically drawn to him.

She hated the thought that she was causing him pain, but he needed healing.

'There you go, Harry, good as new.' She said breezily while reluctantly moving her hand away.

Regaining her senses Tonks sent her Patronus off to the castle informing them of Harry's location and imminent arrival.

'What are you doing up here, anyway? Harry asked* "I asked to be stationed up here for the year,' replied Tonks, hoping Harry would realize the unspoken 'to be closer to you'.

'Is it just you who's stationed up here, or-?'*

'No, Proudfoot, Savage, and Dawlish are here too.'*

'Okay,' Harry said somewhat quietly as they proceeded towards the castle, it was a long walk without the carriages but both of them seemed to be enjoying the walk.

Out of nowhere Harry put a hand on Tonks to stop her and looked deep into her eyes as if studying her. Her brain was telling her he was going to kiss her and she leaned in only to be disappointed when there was no kiss.

'Why didn't you tell me, why didn't you tell me you got an assignment up here?' Harry said sounding a little hurt.

Brushing of her discombobulated feelings of wanting to be kissed by Harry and not being kissed, Tonks decided grumpiness was not permissible in Harry right now so she dealt with his impending mood the only way she knew how –humorous flirting.

'Oh, Harry, as much as I love that broody expression you're sporting right now, we don't have time for you to get in my knickers; you're meant to be at the feast already…but maybe this will take that look off your face. '

With that she placed a light kiss on his cheek and whispered in his ear 'I wanted to surprise you and this way will have more opportunities to get to know each other better.'

Mission complete, Tonks pushed forward up the hill with a smirk on her face, with Harry staring at her departing figure longingly. Before long, Harry's brain kicked in and he rushed to catch up with his escort.

Coming back to the present Tonks was reminded that she hasn't seen Harry since she delivered him to Hogwarts and that needed to change as a matter of urgency.

*Harry Potter and the half-blood prince (2005) p 149-153.


	8. Chapter 8 The Other Women

_**Chapter seven: The other women**_

_**Written by**_ Csunsure

_**Edited by**_ Alix33, Chrono XIII and chaos2007

Tonks was feeling nervous as she trudged up to the castle. What had seemed like a great idea a week and a half ago was becoming a stupid one with each step. _'Why in the name of Merlin did I think it was a good idea to ask Albus for some alone time with my husband-to-be on the anniversary of his parents' death? Because you want to realize he is no longer alone and you want him to let you in'_ her thoughts mused.

She had begrudgingly come to an agreement with Dumbledore over the summer that she would have additional access to Harry during term-time; the arrangement would allow them get to know each other and develop their 'relationship'. They reached a deal on the condition she did not use her rights as Harry's future wife to withdraw him from Hogwarts this year. She had no intention to do this, at least, not without talking to Harry first. She had determined that Harry needed support, stability and to be surrounded by his friends this year, and she was going to do everything in her power to do that for Harry. For the moment support for Harry meant Hogwarts, but Dumbledore didn't need to know that! The mere suggestion that Harry might leave Dumbledore's sphere of influence had gotten her a lot of bargaining power over the old man.

She had decided to cash-in that bargaining power for the first time last week when providing the headmaster with an update on the Bell case. It was after all, the glimpse of her fiancé in the aftermath of Hogsmeade incident that had inspired her visit request. Thinking back to the hollow, sleep deprived and preoccupied image of Harry she observed while her colleagues had taken his witness report in the Bell case, she could see then Harry desperately needed someone and it pained her that, at the time, she had to keep her distance, but not tonight. Harry had written to her a couple of times since term started but his missives were very detached and mainly focused on his paranoia around Malfoy. While she generally believed in what little she knew of Harry's instincts, there was little she could do as an auror _or _an Order member. At the moment there just wasn't enough proof, As she reached the headmaster's office she took a deep breath, and stating the password "ice mice" to the gargoyle she strode to the door awaiting admittance suddenly feeling like a student again.

"Enter, Nymphadora" came the familiar voice from behind the door

"Dumbledore, how many times must I tell you to call me Tonks."

"And how many times must I ask you to call me Albus, anyway, miss Tonks, a pleasure to see you for a happier reason. I have asked Harry to come to my office at six, as I know from experience he is often hard to locate. This gives us a little time to talk. Lemon drop?"

-0-0-0-

Harry bade his friends goodbye and headed down to the headmaster's office. He was in a sombre mood despite the anticipation of seeing Dora again. He'd received a note from Nymphadora on Monday saying she was coming up on Thursday to see him, then at breakfast this morning he'd received a note from the headmaster to come up to his office at 6pm. Harry sincerely hoped it was to meet Dora rather than another one of his sessions with Dumbledore. He wasn't sure he could handle a trip down Riddle's memory lane on the anniversary of his parents' death. Thankfully when granted entrance to Albus's office the first thing Harry spotted was spiky turquoise hair peeping over the top of the chair facing the headmaster.

"Ah Harry, good of you to join us, I was just informing Nymphadora here"

Harry enjoyed the glare aimed at the headmaster at this point. "Of the arrangements I have made for the pair of you this evening as I presumed you would rather be away from prying eyes."

Harry did not like what the tone or the eye twinkle insinuated and he could feel heat rising in his cheeks. Chuckling to himself Albus continued

"I have arranged for you to have access to the guest rooms located near Gryffindor behind the portrait of dragon chasing the Hippogriff. I have set the password to 'Mars bars' and asked Dobby to serve you dinner at 8pm. I will explain to Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger your absence. I will leave you to find your own way, I am required in the great hall, it is Halloween after all, good evening, see yourselves out."

With that, the headmaster exited the room. Despite being in the same room for the last 10 minutes, Harry had not greeted Tonks and was unsure how to start. Standing awkwardly Harry proceeded to rake his hands through his hair, becoming very aware that Tonks was expecting him to start.

"Erm … hi". Tonks smiled at him and jumped up grabbing his arm. "Shall we go find these rooms, then, before people start heading down to the feast?" with that she dragged him out of the office.

The journey to the guest quarters was uncomfortable to say the least. It was mainly silent. Seemingly the small progress they'd made as a couple over the summer had been reversed by a few weeks at Hogwarts. Tonks sighed internally not sure what to do next. Once they had arrived at the assigned room Harry had broken free of her grasp and was now staring intently out of the window, watching the incoming storm. Tonks could have cursed the headmaster. When she took in the room it was beautifully decorated in pale blues and golds but the only seats were a window seat and two high back chairs next to a dining table. The only other furniture was a double bed. It felt like Dumbledore was trying to encourage their relationship to take a giant leap and she didn't know why as he certainly wasn't pleased when he found out. One thing she did know was that she and Harry certainly weren't anywhere near that yet.

Tonks really didn't know where to begin. Halloween was normally one of her favourite holidays. She remembered the fun that she had as a small child. It was one of the only times she could be herself in both the muggle and magical world. However, she knew that for Harry Halloween held no positive associations.

Walking slowly, she joined Harry at the window.

"How are you, Harry?" "Fine" '_Great_' she thought, '_this is going to be a long night'_ "Harry, do you think I'm stupid?" she said with a level of sarcasm that surprised Harry.

Harry's gaze broke from the distance "What, no, of course not!"

'Well then, stop lying, it's okay to find today hard, anybody would' Tonks stroked his shoulder and after the initial flinch he leaned in to her touch, a reaction Tonks secretly took great comfort in. Soon the over-excitable house elf Dobby appeared with a huge selection of food. Tonks directed Harry to the table and Harry thanked Dobby, causing the elf to blush, a sight Tonks had never seen before. The meal was slightly odd but not overly uncomfortable. It was the first time they'd really been in each other's company without a task or an urgent topic to discuss.

During dinner, Tonks shared stories of her childhood and Harry seemed content to listen asking the occasional question. Tonks found herself enjoying this meal with Harry, he wasn't obsessed with her abilities, he was relatively attentive to her and didn't make her feel like she needed to play stupid. This meal, as strange as its circumstances was, reassured her that this may be a wise match after all, not that she would ever admit that to her mother. When they finished dinner Dobby reappeared to clear away the remains and Tonks pulled Harry over to the bed. This caused a petrified look to cross Harry's face and Tonks couldn't help but chuckle.

"Don't worry, Harry, I'm not intending to ravish you or whatever your warped teenage mind has just constructed. I just want to sit somewhere comfortable and can't be bothered to create something so the bed looks like the best option."

Looking round the room Harry could see Tonks' point: the bed was the only remotely comfortable looking piece of furniture to sit on so he followed Dora's lead and sat down. He didn't really know what to say or do and Tonks was not initiating conversation. It was making Harry uncomfortable. He felt like he should say something, anything, but what? Without thinking he said

"Do you know I heard them on that night when Dementors got close to me."

internally cursing himself, '_Why that, sitting on a bed with his future wife and that's the best he could come up with! What was he thinking? Did his brain really think that talking about that was a good idea; he didn't like talking about the Dementor effect with Remus or Hermione. _

_Why the hell had he brought it up now?_' He began to get worked up, he was beginning to freak out, he couldn't handle that tonight. During his reflection he failed to see the impact his statement had on the normally cheerful and self-assured Tonks.

As she processed his statement her whole demeanour changed to one of sadness and her hair morphed from her normal pink to limp black. All the while her brain was in overdrive _'How do you respond to a statement like that? Ignore it? No he's opened up, I can't ignore that, Merlin, that's why I asked Dumbledore for these visits. I need to know this stuff if I'm going to be his wife, but he doesn't do things by halves, why couldn't we have talked about school - no, straight in at the deep end for Potter'_.

Before she could think of a suitable reply she noticed Harry shaking next to her. Acting on instinct she pulled Harry into her arms and started to rub his back in slow motion. "Harry, it's okay to cry, let it out, shhh." She continued this over and over until they both feel asleep.

It had been a hectic week since Halloween and Tonks hadn't heard from Harry since waking up with him on November 1st. While the night had been draining for all involved it had bought them closer. They might not be a 'couple' but they were definitely past just friends.

She knew that today Harry and his quidditch team-mates would be playing Slytherin. She'd traded shifts with Dawlish so that she watch but she'd morphed from her normal form into a more inconspicuous one and headed to the visitors stand. Soon the teams took off and Tonks was mesmerized. It had been ages since she'd been to a quidditch match and she'd forgotten how much she enjoyed watching the game. When she was dating Charlie Weasley during 6th year, she'd watched quite a lot of quidditch but nothing she'd seen prepared her for seeing Harry. He looked so free, liberated, at ease, he was so agile, and graceful she couldn't take her eyes off him. Then it was over, Gryffindor winning, of course. She wanted to go and see Harry but thought better of it deciding he probably had enough well-wishers without adding to them. Moreover, she couldn't really explain her presence, so she settled on writing him a letter before starting her shift.

-0-0-0-

The look on Hermione's face was priceless - it was clear she just couldn't hypothesize who would be keeping in such frequent owl contact with her best friend. Harry enjoyed having one over the brightest witch of her age. It certainly didn't happen often. He wondered how long Hermione would remain clueless and hypothesised not long enough. Harry smiled as Tonks' owl Barney landed next to him at the Gryffindor table as was now a frequent occurrence. The mere thought of Barney made Harry internally chuckle at Dora's name choice. The poor owl surely had an identity crisis after 5 years of being a tawny owl named Barney. When he first found out the little owl's name he laughed so much it hurt .

Apparently the owl had the misfortune of coming into Tonks' ownership shortly after she'd done a stint babysitting her muggle cousins who, 3 and 5 at the time, were crazy about this purple and green dinosaur. She couldn't get that blasted song out of her head but she loved the colours and so an owl was named. Harry's thoughts froze in horror for a second as the realization hit him, she was going to be naming his children. Hopefully she was less arbitrary in naming children than she was owls.

It had been approximately two minutes since the owl arrived and right on schedule came Hermione's questions

"Harry, what's going on? That owl keeps coming and it's not from Gringotts or the ministry. Whose is it?" "Sorry, Hermione, you know I can't tell you, that's not going to change no matter how many times you ask." Hermione huffed Harry ignored her and settled down to retrieve his letter from the unusually agitated owl who nipped at his fingers nearly drawing blood.

"Ow" this caused both Hermione and Ron to look concernedly at him. Harry normally got on so well with owls, especially this one. Harry should have taken Barney's unusual behaviour as a sign but he didn't. Dora's letter wasn't her normal smile inducing light relief. She seemed pissed. Her tone was cold and detached, very unDora-like, and to begin with he couldn't entirely understand why.

In his last letter he had happened to mention to Dora Slughorn's Christmas party and how he had asked Luna to accompany him and that seemed to have caused her current ire but why? He had expected her to be pleased he'd resolved that date problem but she wasn't. It confused him immensely. How could she be mad at not being asked to accompany him? After all, it would look suspicious if Tonks accompanied him. Who wouldn't raise an eyebrow at Harry Potter choosing a non-student, auror, not to mention older and attractive women as a date at a school event and why on earth would a women of Tonks' calibre agree to that without a very good reason? Luna was perfect for the task as far as Harry was concerned apart from Hermione, who he discovered was already spoken for; Luna was the only girl in the school who he trusted not to try and turn the invite into a romantic entanglement and their friendship was well enough known to not cause too much gossip.

Unfortunately, Dora did not see it that way. Her sentiment in the letter seemed to be _why_. Had he spoken to her first instead of being a typical Gryffindor male this probably would never have happened. She proceeded to point out his various errors on the matter including an interesting array of expletives. It's was only when she spelled out his most grievous error that he finally understood her anger. Harry palmed his forehead. How could he be soooo stupid. How could he forget she was a metamorph and could have morphed into a suitable date.

He wished he could ask Hermione for her advice on how to resolve the disaster he'd inadvertently created but as with so much of his navigation of this relationship he was on his own, Merlin help him. Harry set about responding to her letter without adding to her displeasure although he thought that was nigh impossible considering that he had decided to do the honourable thing and stick with Luna as his date. He wished he could see Dora it was easier to have discussions/arguments face-to-face than in letters. He was never very good at expressing himself in written form as Snape could certainly attest. He hadn't seen Tonks for weeks and now when they did meet he'd be lucky not to be hexed.

The correspondence between Harry and Tonks slowed considerably after the Luna revelation. They went from almost daily to weekly, something that was not unnoticed by Hermione but Harry remained grumpily tight-lipped much to her continued annoyance.

-0-0-0-0-

Tonks had calmed down slightly by the time Slughorn's party came around, but she was not happy and she was going to make Harry suffer a bit, as was her prerogative. To teach Harry a lesson she had acquired herself an invitation to Slughorn's party and planned on making it clear just what he'd given up by inviting Lovegood and of course being at the party enabled her to keep an eye on Harry and his 'date'.

Tonks liked Luna: she was her own person and that was something Tonks admired and respected in people. She could see herself and Luna becoming friends at some point but her developing possessive girlfriend streak meant that Luna was currently, through no fault of her own, in Tonks' bad books. Although she would never admit it, Tonks acknowledged to herself she was jealous of the platinum-haired girl. Even after pointing out his oversight to him, Harry had still chosen to accompany Luna and it hurt no matter how honourable it was.

-0—0—0—0—0

Tonks looked scrumptious in her form-fitting little red dress. She'd kept her face and body shape the same but spiky pink hair just didn't fit the image she was aiming at tonight. After an hour in front of the mirror she settled on long flowing ebony locks. Walking unusually gracefully up to Slughorn's office - external guests were invited for a pre-party mingle and drinks with the host - she began to get nervous. Did she really want to be here? Entering the office her doubts quadrupled. Slughorn really did know the great and the good of the British wizarding community she suddenly felt very out of place.

She retrieved a glass of wine and headed towards a man who looked roughly her age and was alone. It was only when she got close she realized it was the Tornadoes chaser Brevis Birch. She summoned up her courage and started chatting to the strapping star. She was pleasantly surprised as the conversation flowed. Quidditch stars weren't normally known for their conversational abilities but Brevis was so charming. She almost forgot where she was until Slughorn interrupted them with his gushing greetings.

Slughorn asked Birch several questions and gushed about several current students before unfortunately turning his attention to Tonks.

"Ah, Nymphadora, so good you could make it, although I'm surprised you didn't bring a date with you. Looking as wonderful as you do tonight."

"I find most men are intimidated by my auror credentials."

"Oh such a shame, dear, I am sure I could set you up with someone that would certainly increase status through your Black heritage and your other talents."

The appreciative look he was currently giving her body made her shiver in distaste and her reaction flashed between anger and embarrassment but Slughorn continued down his inappropriate subject line.

"And of course, you'd make great breeding stock. I'm certain your father has had many an offer for your hand, it's really surprising that you are not attached yet. don't you agree. Brevis?"

The poor guy looked so uncomfortable. The belief systems of Slughorn's generation weren't that of hers but the longevity of magical folk meant that it would be decades before a woman's value as something other than a baby-maker was truly accepted in the British magical community. Brevis stuttered which Slughorn took as agreement. Tonks had calmed down enough to politely decline Slughorn's matchmaking.

"Oh well dear, if you change your mind you know where it I am" with that, the professor scuttles away.

Harry can't help but notice Dora the minute he enters the party. She's radiant and was mesmerizing. If Luna hadn't asked him to get her a drink he mused he could have stayed watching her all night. Unfortunately Cormac and Malfoy had other plans.

-0-0-0-

Christmas, ignoring the Minister's visit and Percy, was one of the best Harry had had in his life. Harry felt part of a family, something he relished. The presence of a certain metamorph was a particularly welcome. Although Tonks' Christmas invitation to join the Weasleys was not for Harry's benefit it did give him the opportunity to spend time with his future wife.

0-0-0-0-

Although Tonks enjoyed the opportunity to spend some quality time with Harry when he was relatively relaxed, spending the holidays at The Burrow had not been overly pleasurable for her. First she had to put up with Ginny's constant chattering about how amazing Harry was and several times she had to enquire about Ginny's boyfriend to shut the girl up. Then the appearance of her boss and the plonker 'formerly known as Percy' caused a scene that certainly did nothing for her holiday spirit.

Her family Christmases were usually a great deal more uneventful and relaxing than this. When she had originally told her parents of her intention to spend Christmas at the Burrow, they had been understandably disappointed especially now it had been two Christmases in a row. However, when she pointed out her desire to spend the holidays with her betrothed they ceased their complaints. Hopefully next year she and maybe Harry could have a Tonks family Christmas.

0-0-0—0

The weeks following Christmas went in a blink of an eye and soon Valentine's Day was upon Hogwarts. The time since Harry returned to Hogwarts had been hard for Tonks. Despite working near to Harry it wasn't enough, they were exchanging letters daily now and their friendship was becoming strong but much to Tonks frustration their 'relationship' even when alone had stalled at hand brushing and pecking kisses.

She wanted more but Harry seemed oblivious. She had arranged with Dumbledore to be present at Valentine's Day breakfast and she was looking forward to watching Harry receive her gift.

Sat at the end of the top table she watched the half-asleep students enter the hall. Scanning the crowd she saw Harry near the rear flanked as normal by Hermione and Ron. Suddenly a house elf popped in front of her.

"Miss, I was asked to bring you this"

"Thank you" Tonks said accepting the gift from the elf.

She opened it to discover a box of Honeydukes with a handwritten note – she recognized the handwriting anywhere.

Dear Dora

_'well at least he didn't go for nymph'_ she thought.

I know this isn't the most original Valentine's Day gift but I've got to start somewhere and I wasn't sure if there was protocol for things like this, in our situation, but at least you can enjoy these.

X

Not the most romantic or original gift and message she'd ever received but it was sweet and it made her smile. Picking out a pink and white confectionary she tentatively bit into it, it tasted so divine she let out a small moan of appreciation before remembering where she was and hoping no one had noticed. She looked up from her chocolates. Thankfully it seemed her actions had been lost in the growing Valentine's Day excitement. Owls, cherubs and elves were popping up everywhere. Suddenly she saw Barney approaching Harry. She wasn't sure how Harry would take her gift but she was looking forward to finding out.

-0-0—0-

Harry had sat at the Gryffindor table as normal although he was somewhat dreading today as it was always odd. He was also a little anxious. Would Tonks like his gift? Overhearing the girls in the common room for the last couple of weeks he knew that Valentine's Day was important, but what he was meant to do for a woman like Tonks, Merlin only knew, but everyone liked chocolates, right?

"What's Tonks doing here?"

Ron asked through a mouthful of breakfast. "Isn't it obvious, Ron, she's here to make sure none of the external gifts are cursed or dangerous."

Hermione said with an air of unchallengeable authority.

While that was a possible reason, Harry secretly hoped that was not the sole reason for her presence.

An owl hoot caught his attention and he saw Barney approach him a small package in his talons. Harry smiled, retrieved the package and broke off a piece of toast, presenting it to the owl who eagerly accepted the offer. Harry then whispered to the little owl to go keep Hedwig company for a while and Barney whizzed off.

He looked at the gift in front of him. He had no idea what the small package in front of him could be. He looked at the staff table and saw Tonks do a sly wink. That made him both nervous and excited. He opened the package and lifted the contents. Seamus wolf-whistled before Harry had even processed the item. When his brain finally processed what the bright fluorescent yellow thing in his hands was, his blush did the Weasleys proud.

She'd sent him a thong, her thong, he guessed but he noticed a small note on the table and picked it up and read it. If it was possible his blush deepened.

Tonks was enjoying the blush her gift and note had created and she knew then that she would overcome his noble nature eventually. Unfortunately, her buoyant mood did not last long as she saw the plethora of owls and elves now descending on her future husband with what had to be Valentine's Day gifts. There was an increasingly large part of her that wished she could stake her ownership of him, Tonks didn't do sharing.

-0—0—0—0—

Harry was fidgety. Tonks was due to be meeting him for one of their 'dates'. Harry hadn't seen her alone since the week before Valentine's Day and she hadn't been writing as much recently. He was worried that he'd done the wrong thing by getting Dora only chocolates.

Maybe he was meant to buy jewellery or something. The tone of Tonks' letters hadn't changed so maybe it was just as her letters said and she was busy with work. He was actually surprised she hadn't cancelled their meeting today after what happened to Ron yesterday but then maybe it meant she could come to the castle without it arousing suspicion. His over thinking was interrupted by the woman in question.

As Tonks entered 'their' room, Harry couldn't help but check her out. She was hot and he was only starting to process that she was his. She was in casual dress: a pair of form hugging jeans and a tight jumper that left little to the imagination. Did she know what she was doing to him? He came to the conclusion she definitely did. The thong she'd sent him suddenly entered his mind and he blushed.

Tonks was enjoying Harry's reaction to her arrival especially as she hadn't put any effort in. "Wotcher Harry" she stifled a giggle as he shook his head as if he was trying to regain his senses.

"Hi Dora, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Harry, how are you? And more importantly how is Ron and do you intentionally get yourself into these situations?"

"I'm good and Ron's doing better and as to the situations, I don't try, honest, it's just the joy of being a Potter, I guess." replied Harry, slightly depressed.

"Merlin help the world when I become a Potter, then" Tonks laughed

'From what I heard, Harry, you saved Ron's life yesterday, so I know I'm in safe hands, but Harry, please be careful. I don't think that's the last time you're going to come into contact with love potions and Ron won't always be there to be your fall guy. Plus, I really don't want to have to turn into the crazy auror girlfriend. I'm not sure I could handle you being poisoned' the vulnerable look on Tonks' face deeply affected Harry. He felt cared for in a way he hadn't before.

"Is there anything I can do to check stuff?" "Yeah, I'm surprised nobody's shown you it but then again after what I've heard about the quality of your defence teachers maybe not. I can show it if you like?"

"That would be great, thanks, Dora" "Well I can't have some hussy drugging my fiancé now, can I? Do you think we could get some of those chocolates Ron had?"

"I think he ate them all."

"Oh well, I'll talk you through it and then you can give it a shot" Once Harry had the theory down it was time for the practical. "Dobby" Tonks called The excitable elf appeared immediately.

"Yes, Miss Tonky, what can I's do for you?" Dobby gushed.

"Could we have some popcorn, please, Dobby?"

"Certainly Miss, I will bring it immediately."

And with that he disappeared and a big bowl of toffee popcorn appeared a minute later.

"Let's get started" said Tonks, rising from her seat across from Harry, but motioning for Harry to stay seated.

"Harry close your eyes, I'm going to enchant seven pieces of this popcorn with a mild curse. When you open your eyes I want you to perform the detection spell and then eat a piece."

"What's the curse?" Harry asked somewhat nervously. He didn't like the glint in Dora's eye.

"There are 4 different ones, all mild, and I know how to reverse them all; although I might not want to, but I thought it would give you a good incentive to learn the spell quickly and I might even give you a reward if you manage to get the spell down before we part tonight." Tonks ended saucily.

Tonks came and rested behind Harry's chair and moved to hold his wand hand in hers and guided his wand movement. Harry gulped, desperately trying to remember the incantation, but struggling with the close proximity of Dora. Her touch was incredibly distracting. Finally regaining his wits, he incanted _reprehendre malumium_ with the wand movement. There was a brief flicker, but Harry knew it hadn't worked correctly. Nervously he reached for a piece of popcorn. Unfortunately, he was not lucky and the moment it touched his lips he felt like he had people tickling him all over. Tonks finally released the curse when Harry was on the floor gasping for breath.

Tonks gave Harry a hand up off the floor "Let's try that again, shall we? You need to put more intention into the incantation and a bit more twist into the movement."

Tonks returned to her position behind Harry and he tried again. This time the flicker lasted longer but it still wasn't right. Thankfully the popcorn this time was harmless.

Unfortunately the fourth attempt led Harry to sport an electric blue hairstyle which Tonks refused to immediately reverse. Attempt 14 sort of worked, but only for a second. Cocky from his previous attempt Harry's 15th attempt was a bit of a disaster, although Tonks didn't seem to mind as Harry was divested of his top.

"Quidditch seems to work for you, honey, I almost don't want to give you your shirt back, but if you want to get this spell down tonight I think, I'd better."

Harry blushed at the predatory look he was currently getting. Not really understanding what Tonks saw in him, he knew from the changing rooms he was no Oliver Wood or even Ron Weasley in the body department. Shirt back on he tried again and this time he succeeded and the 4 remaining cursed pieces of popcorn showed a variety of colours.

"Do it again, Harry" Tonks urged It worked perfectly.

An excited Tonks pulled Harry into a congratulatory hug that went on for longer than she intended but Harry wasn't complaining. In fact, Harry was thoroughly enjoying the feel of Dora so close to him, it was the best hug of his life so far. Tonks seemed to realise the hug had gone on too long and began to extricate herself. However Harry didn't want the feeling to end and he decided to be brave or stupid he wasn't sure which and pulled Tonks towards him. She looked momentarily confused and then surprised but then she followed his lead and tilted her head to allow him access to her lips.

As their lips met it felt like electricity was going through Harry's whole body. This was nothing like Cho. He wasn't sure what to do next, but he didn't have to think for long as he felt Dora's tongue demand entrance and the battle began. Too soon for both of them, they needed air.

Parting, Harry suddenly felt embarrassed by his forwardness and began to apologize. However, Tonks leaned forward and kissed him hard, immediately halting any apology.

The next time they came up for air before Harry could say anything, Tonks began to speak "Don't you dare try and apologise for kissing me, Harry James Potter! I have been waiting a while for that kiss and I have to say you exceeded my expectations, Mr Potter. Are you sure you've only done that once before?"

Harry nodded gormlessly his eyes still transfixed with her lips.

"You're clearly a natural. It makes me wonder what else you're a natural at?" Harry blushed at the insinuation

"But I think we might have to wait a while before testing that theory, unfortunately. I think it is a good job you aren't a ladies' man, Harry. You'd have the entire female population of the school attempting to pull you into a broom closet even without being the boy-who-lived. But thankfully your lips are mine and mine alone!"

and with that she leaned in for another mind-blowing snog.

-0-0-0-

Tonks couldn't stop thinking about kissing Harry. It was a very distracting and frustrating 6 days waiting to taste those lips again. She was hoping to nab her emerald-eyed betrothed for a much needed snogging session after the match even if it meant morphing into a schoolgirl.

She watched as Harry took to the skies again, wishing she could join him. It was going so well and then that idiot McLaggen hit him with that bat. Her world went into slow-motion.

She knew she couldn't go to him now, there were too many people watching and she wasn't sure could control herself enough. Needing to do something she discreetly headed to the hospital wing to await Harry.

A few minutes after her arrival, the hospital wing's doors banged open and Poppy rushed in with Harry following on a stretcher, dead to the world, Hagrid and Dumbledore bringing up the rear. It took all her self-control to not run to Harry's side.

"Right, Hagrid, now that Mr Potter has been safely delivered to hospital wing I believe your assistance is required to help people vacate the grounds. I am going to act as doorman for a while and keep the curious minds away. I am sure Harry will be fine in Nymphadora's and Poppy's capable hands." They exited leaving Harry, Tonks and a slightly confused Poppy alone in the hospital wing.

"Nymphadora, I am not sure why you are here, however, I am sure that Albus has his reasons and once we have stabilized Harry I would very much like to know them." "What can I do to help, Poppy?"

"Well can you help me move him into a position so that I can examine him, I tend to keep magic usage to a minimum in initial examination with Harry. You never quite know what he's got into even with quidditch. Luckily he's a light one but an extra pair of hands is always welcome."

With her orders, Tonks proceeded to turn Harry onto his side giving Poppy access to the injury. A couple of wand swishes later and Poppy trotted off to her store cupboard and return with several containers. She placed them on the bedside cabinet next to Harry and plucked out a balm and a bandage.

While wrapping his head Poppy spoke again "With the severity of his injury he's going to be lucky if he makes it out by Monday, so if you could get him out of his clothing, clean him up a bit and put him in some suitable nightwear; while I continue his treatment t I'd appreciate it. It's okay to use magic but can you avoid his head area."

Tonks used her wand to spell Harry in place and proceeded to remove his clothing carefully. In other circumstances Tonks mused, she would thoroughly be enjoying her current activity. Having removed his shoes, socks and trousers she froze, did she really want to get her first view of the whole of him like this? Unfortunately Poppy removed the decision.

"Come on dear, it's nothing I'm sure you haven't seen before and he wont thank you if he wakes up wearing three day old underwear." Poppy sounded like she was holding back a chuckle. Tonks gently moved her hands to his waistband and removed the offending garment. She couldn't suppress her smile at what she saw but not wanting to draw attention to her reaction she continue with her assigned task Scourgifying his lower half she carefully put on his pyjama bottoms and pulled up the sheets and blankets to his waist and started on his top half. 5 minutes later Harry was changed and resting and Poppy was studying Tonks carefully.

"Now that Mr Potter is dealt with at least for the next 40 minutes would you care to explain why Albus deemed your presence advantageous to his treatment?"

Tonks contemplated the possible responses to the matrons question, she could lie but given the frequency Harry got into trouble maybe in would be useful to be honest, it would certainly make getting access to Harry when injured easier. In addition, she was his guardian if any major medical decisions had to be made regarding Harry it would be her making them.

"I will tell you but it is highly sensitive information so I'm going to have to require a magical oath on top of your healers oath."

Poppy looked scandalized it was almost unheard of to ask for additional oath over a healers' one. Tonks was trying to guess which way her decision making process was going to go when the matron spoke.

"I Poppy Pomfrey, swear on my magic that I shall not divulge or discuss the information provided to me by Nymphadora Tonks without her express permission to those who are not already aware of it. So mote it be." There was a flash from her wand and then the room went still.

Tonks put several privacy and sound proofing spells around the room and then commenced her tale.

"Before I tell you Poppy can I suggest you sit down, the information I am about to tell you is known by 5 living wizards and witches and two goblins. Two of those people are in this room and Albus is another. Before I start, I would like to make clear I had no choice in this either. After the events of the final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, my cousin Sirius Black decided he needed to protect the future of the Black family and more importantly his godson's role in it. He decided, Merlin knows why that the most fool proof way to do this was to … enter myself as a Black by birth and his godson into a marriage contract."

Poppy as expected responded "Oh my"

"As a result of my cousin death, I am now Harry's magical guardian until he comes of age as well as next of kin for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately for Harry and I Sirius and my mother constructed a very strict contract that we are bond by barring death. We, Harry and I have slowly been coming to terms with what this means for us. it is fair to say we are both hoping for a love-based relationship and that we can make this situation work. We have both known of the contract for little over a year but our relationship is still very much developing. I am starting to care for Harry deeply but because of the required secrecy surrounding our arrangement I have to be careful not to bring attention to myself with regard to Harry."

"That explains a lot dear, and thank you for trusting me. Mr Potter will be fine he will need quite a lot of care until he regains consciousness, you are more than welcome to stay and if you wish, assist me in Harry's care."

"Thank you Poppy. Just let me know what I can do to help."

With that Tonks took a seat next to Harry's bedside.

After a couple of hours, the matron gently shook Tonks awake.

"Nymphadora, dear, I need to let in Mr Potter's associates in before they break down the door or sneak in. Are you happy to stay here?"

Tonks nodded but she removed her hand from his, which caused the unconscious Harry to mew at the loss of contact, bringing a slight smile to Tonks's lips. She moved her chair back slightly to give the impending visitors more space. Seconds later there was a cacophony of sound as the hospital wing was invaded by what seemed to be the entire of Gryffindor. Harry stirred at the noise but it didn't wake him.

Hours later and only Tonks remained at Harry's bedside although she suspected Ginny would have had Poppy not demanded her exit. Ginny was a growing concern for Tonks it was clear the young Weasley felt that Harry was hers and that it was only a matter of time before they were an item. In other circumstances, she could see that Harry and Ginny could easily become a couple. That thought made her jealous as she was pretty sure Harry would never have seen her as a love interest were it not for the contract. As it was Tonks was a permanent fixture in Harry's life and future and she worried that Ginny's obsession could lead the girl to do something drastic to get 'her' man.

Suddenly Tonks felt a movement and she focused her attention back on Harry.

"Dora?" Harry said squinting like mad _'he really is blind as a bat without his glasses'_ thought Tonks.

"Yes darling it is, I'll just get you your specs." She handed him his glasses and once she was sure he was comfortable she continued talking however her tone changed to mock annoyance "You've had me really worried Potter, please pick your team-mates more carefully in future. I've lost valuable snogging time."

"What happened, I feel like a herd of hippogriffs ran over my head? How long have I been in here and how come you're here?"

"Well that idiot Mclaggen fractured your skull with a beaters bat, it's about 2am of Sunday morning and I'm here you daft boy 'cause I care about you and you scared the life out of me. Madame Pomfrey will want to know your awake." With that Tonks stood kissed Harry on the forehead and disappeared in the direction of Madame Pomfrey's office.

Harry watched Dora's retreating figure and he could help thinking maybe this marriage thing wasn't so bad after all.

**AN /Happy New Year, congratulations if you've made it to the end of this mammoth chapter. Thank you for sticking with the story and sorry for the long wait for an update. I would like to thank my new Betas for their help getting this chapter. Unfortunately real life decided it didn't like my schedule for this story**. **Lets just say I've seen enough hospitals and blood to last me a long time. Needless to say as a result of my recent real life adventures I do not when my next update will be but I will try not to keep you waiting as long as you have for this chapter. I also aim to go back to my normal chapter length. AN**/ PS thank you eagle-eyed reader/reviewer jediprankster for their observations now fixed errors. working on next chapter as we speak 27/1/12


	9. Chapter 9 In darkness

Chapter 9 In darkness there is little light

_**Written by Csunsure  
edited by Alix33, ChronoXIII and Chaos2007  
**_

As Tonks ran towards the crowd at the base of the astronomy tower as fast as possible, she could feel the mental, physical and emotional exhaustion of the last few hours trying to kick in but she stubbornly refused to allow it. Her head was focused on one all-encompassing thought '_Find Harry'._

She barely processed her surroundings. She had beaten her opponents in battle into retreat, or at least that was what she thought until she saw the crowds at the base of the astronomy tower. The crowds were standing protectively almost reverently around something or someone. She decided if it was a '_Whoever_' it was not good.

Suddenly a panic gripped her and her brain screamed '_Please not Harry'. _The strength of the fear surprised her. Yes if it was Harry, it would be a heavy blow for the side of light, but her concern was definitely more than that. She did not dwell on that. She needed to ascertain the truth as soon as possible. Driven by fear she fought her way through the crowd, the image now before her, reassured her, broke her heart and brought her an uneasy sense of dread and despair, all at once. In front of her Harry clung to an obviously deceased Dumbledore, sobbing. Harry looked so broken, so young, so lost she could almost physically see his pain at losing his mentor, his hope fading with every second that passed.

She was watching the reality of life pile up on Harry. It was now down to him and him alone to sort out the wizarding world and watching the devastated boy in front of her for the first time a slither of doubt entered her mind, the almost forbidden thought that Harry might not win. She saw Ginny and Hermione both snap out of their shock and tentatively head towards Harry. She knew that both young women cared about her fiancé but she knew that she wanted and needed to be the one there for Harry now. She had this overwhelming feeling that she was the only one who could comfort and protect Harry right now. Hopefully her role as an Auror would stop speculation and confusion that might arise from her intervention. Slowly she moved towards the now trio. As she reached Ginny and Hermione she tapped both on the shoulder only to receive two wands in the face. Both girls were surprisingly battle ready, which although annoying in current circumstances reassured her. The duo relaxed once they processed it was Tonks that had disturbed them. She was surprised how restrained and professional she was being when her heart was yearning to gather Harry up in an embrace. However, she knew in order to avoid announcing the true nature of her relationship with Harry to half of Hogwarts and therefore the entire wizarding world she needed to stay in role.

"Ginny, Hermione, I need you to step back. I'll see to Harry, but this is a crime scene and needs to be secured." As if it had been arranged Kingsley Shacklebolt appeared and the girls retreated although both looked slightly pained.

"Auror Tonks, report!" Shacklebolt bellowed

"YES SIR! The dark mark was seen above the school. Myself, Proudfoot, Savage, and Dawlish gathered and headed directly to the school's entrance. We received a report of multiple combatants engaging students, teachers and the alerted order members in battle. Savage set up guard while myself, Proudfoot and Dawlish proceeded to split following the sound of spell fire. Descending the stairs having survived several fire fights my opponents suddenly started a retreat so I followed. At the third floor, I located a window and proceeded scan the grounds and saw Bellatrix Lestrange leading Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy to the ward boundary. I then saw Harry giving chase. There appeared to be an altercation between Snape and Potter followed by spell fire. I have only just arrived here so I am not entirely sure what happened to Albus but he's clearly dead. Based on who was sighted I suspect that Snape, Malfoy and Lestrange are involved I think that Harry may be able to enlighten us but he needs removing from the scene and handling with delicacy. Who knows what he's seen tonight." Tonks finished her report, mentally cursing her slip-up.

"Thank you, Tonks, take Mr. Potter to the infirmary. Get Pomfrey to check him. Stay with him for the time being. Only order members who are ministry or school staff can go near Potter and nobody is to question him about tonight's events until I come to take his statement. Please ask Pomfrey not to do anything to Mister Potter that would lead to his unconsciousness... I will come as soon as I've spoken to the remaining heads of houses about regaining order with the students and then arranging moving Albus's body to the hospital wing until I can get the relevant ministry and St. Mungo's officials to declare the death." With her orders received, she gently removed Harry from Dumbledore's body. Harry went to grab on to her like a lifeline.

A warmth filled her at the action and she loathed that it was such awful events that caused Harry to initiate such an action. Leading Harry away, she became hyper-aware of her audience and as much as she hated herself, she knew she had to terminate Harry's contact. Lightly she pushed Harry away, repositioning herself so that she was behind him guiding him with a firm hand on the shoulder.

-0-0-0-

The hospital wing was so frenetic with activity that Tonks wished she could take Harry to their room, but alas that was not possible. She inwardly vowed to herself to protect Harry as much as possible from the barrage of enquiries that were a given. At least she had Kingley's orders to hide behind although she doubted that would be enough to keep Molly Weasley away.

She went in front of Harry taking his right hand in hers. In other circumstances she could imagine the sparks at leading him to a bed but fate wasn't kind and instead it looked like a mother elephant protectively leading her calf. When the other people in the ward became aware of Tonks, a hushed silence took over and they looked at her expectantly. Not knowing what to say, Tonks went for the direct approach: "Dumbledore is dead." There were the predictable gasps and sobs.

'We don't know what's happened but the death-eaters appear to have retreated so the castle is being secured as we speak. I'm under orders to bring Harry to Poppy for a check over before we take his statement as it is believed he was with Albus a great deal of this evening. Auror Kingsley has requested that no one question Harry about the events of today until he has taken a statement. Kingsley has also requested that with the exception of Madame Pomfrey only school and ministry staff at my discretion are to be near Harry until his recollections have been collected.' At that statement Tonks could hear Molly and Remus's disgruntled mutterings but she chose to ignore them in favour of getting Harry into bed so that Poppy could begin her exam. Leading Harry to an empty bed at rear of the ward, it was her turn to gasp as she passed the scarred form of Bill Weasley. Greyback had certainly been on form this evening. Harry was obviously still in shock. He hadn't said a thing since Tonks had disconnected him from Dumbledore's lifeless form. He appeared to be on autopilot and Tonks could see right now he needed direction for even simple tasks.

They finally reached the seclude bed so Tonks positioned Harry at the side of the bed and pushed him gently down into the sitting position. Turning to the crowd, Tonks said in her authoritative Auror tone:

'Poppy, I know you are very busy, but could you come and check Mr. Potter please as Auror Shacklebolt demanded he receive medical attention prior to being interviewed.'

"Certainly, Auror Tonks. I will be with you shortly, I just need to explain William's treatment to Miss Delacour and Mrs. Weasley."

Tonks turned back to Harry and helped him get into bed. She then drew the curtains round his bed and put a basic ward around the space preventing anyone other than herself, Kingsley and Poppy entering without her permission and muting the sound. She pulled up a chair and took Harry's lifeless hand softly stroking it to no response.

Soon Poppy appeared, clearly battling her own emotions about her friend's death.

"Poppy, Auror Shacklebolt has requested that any medical intervention that might render Harry unconscious be withheld until after Harry's been interviewed." Poppy nodded and look at Harry. 'Right, Mr. Potter, let's get you checked over' With a couple of wand movements the diagnostic charms were complete Poppy turned to an expectant Tonks

'He has obviously been in close contact with dark magic recently but there are no lasting side effects. He has a few cuts and bruises but nothing major. He is clearly in shock and needs a calming draft and, I suspect, a dreamless sleep potion. However based on your orders, until he's interviewed the best thing I can prescribe for him is some reassurance,' with this Poppy looked meaningfully at Tonks and exited.

'Harry, I know it's hard, but soon Kingsley's going to come and talk to you about what happened tonight. He'll need you to say what happened, but I can probably stay if you want?' Harry didn't respond or even acknowledge her. This worried Tonks but she could understand, thinking he might appreciate some time alone, she decided to make the decision for him. 'Harry, I'm just going to check how much longer you're going to have to wait.' Standing she moved swiftly to the curtain edge just as she was pulling back the curtain. Harry's quiet rasp reached her.

"Dora, please stay." That was all she needed to let her previous instincts take hold. She moved towards Harry. Joining him on the bed, she gathered him up in her arms while cursing her uniform's unwieldy nature.

Something changed in the dynamics of their relationship that night. Looking back years late Harry would comment that it was that night he was finally grateful for the contract. It was that night that a clumsy metamorph became his anchor.

**AN****/ Thank you to my betas for their help. This was originally going to be a scene in a much longer chapter but it felt like a natural stopping point here, so it's much shorter than normal but on a plus point I** **already have a substantial part of the next chapter down. Thank you so much if you've taken the time to favourite or review this story. I never expected the level of response this story has received so far** **clearly I underestimated the number of Tonks fans!** **Finally unintentionally (thanks to site bugs and quick betas) this chapter is being posted on Valentines day** **so I wish you a happy one./AN**


	10. Chapter 10 Home is Where the Heart is?

TLOLB

Chapter 10 Home is where the heart is?

_**Written by csunsure  
Beta'd by Alix33, S. O. U. L (Previously chronoXIII) and Chaos2007**_

As the story of the events of that night emerged Tonks almost regretted the arguments she'd had with Harry following what she like to call '_The Bathroom incident_'. At the time she'd made it very clear to Harry she had no intention of being an Azkaban widow and if he ever pulled a stunt like that again she'd make sure he regretted it for eternity. Whilst Harry definitely needed reminding his actions affected her too now, she regretted the distance that the fight had created between then over the last couple of months before Albus's death. She couldn't help feeling that had Harry had her support things could have turned out differently. She felt like she'd once more failed Harry; yet again he'd been forced to stand alone against the masses only to have his instincts proved correct yet again. It was that heady combination of feelings that led Dora to find herself in the godforsaken house of Harry's relatives again. Thankfully, the horse and warthogs known by many as the Dursleys were unaware of her presence.

She had never wanted her or Harry to set foot in this place again after rescuing him the summer before. Unfortunately, however, she had underestimated her husband-to-be's noble streak combined with his guilt complex over Dumbledore's death. Harry was adamant that he would stay with the Dursleys as long as it would enhance their safety. Nothing Tonks could say or offer had persuaded him otherwise. The rest of the order were so caught up in dealing with the after effects of Dumbledore's death that they were content to leave Harry in the hellhole.

Tonks had appealed to her mentor Moody, the new leader of The order of the phoenix, to command Harry to a safe house but her appeals had fallen on deaf ears.

Harry, 'The-Chosen-One' may be the focus of this war and by extension The Order's war effort, but for her it was going to be Harry the slightly lanky teen who she was falling for that was the focus of her actions the war be damned.

She wasn't stupid; she was an ex-Auror, for Merlin's sake. She knew there was nothing anyone could do to avoid the war. It was too late for that, but she would do whatever she could to ease Harry's burden in it. Unfortunately, as far as she was concerned Harry had decided that that did not include telling the order about the contract between them for the time being. It annoyed her no end as she felt that knowledge may alter the order's plans to Harry's benefit but she decided to respect Harry's wishes. It was just so hard to stay detached in meetings about Harry though several times the vehemence of her response had raised both Remus's and Molly's eyebrows at points.

She suspected that Harry's decision to hide the nature of their relationship was primarily based on the fear that those he considered family would disown him if they found out about the contact. However the reason he'd given her was that he didn't want her being put in more danger because of him. Unfortunately, neither reason was one she could argue with as much as she wanted to.

The fallout of Dumbledore's death had lead Tonks to resign from the ministry. She could see the direction of the war was going and she knew it was going to come to a head sooner rather than later and she would be in the eye of that storm. So here she was at the entrance to Harry's room for the sixth time this week. It was earlier than her normal guard shift started, a little after 5 am, but she didn't mind. Finally there was an end in sight. The Order had finally agreed at on a move date to get Harry to The Burrow. She had managed to argue for his 'family' to be put under protection knowing that Harry would take it upon himself to protect them if The Order didn't. Unfortunately this meant Harry's move was being delayed for 4 days so Hestia and Diggle could find somewhere suitable to house the idiots that were to be her extended family one day. The thought of being related to the Dursleys, however distantly, made her shudder in revulsion but Harry was worth it.

Being unemployed and a trained Auror meant that with little persuasion Tonks had convinced The Order to appoint her in charge of Harry's protection while with the muggles. This meant that over the last 5 weeks she'd spent all but 3 days with Harry mainly training and talking with the odd kiss here or there. Their relationship hadn't progressed very far physically but over that time their friendship had grown massively and amazingly. Despite the circumstances she and Harry rarely argued. Clearly Sirius had seen compatibility between them that she would never have noticed had the contract not demanded it. Maybe Sirius was wiser than she thought.

She watched Harry sleeping restlessly but resisted the urge to comfort him just yet as in his current state that would probably end with a wand up her nostril. Shortly after Harry had returned to number four they had a very frank discussion about the Horcruxes and the task Dumbledore had left Harry, Ron and Hermione. She was furious with Dumbledore for not sharing that knowledge with her and immediately started developing a training plan for Harry while he was trapped in Surrey. They would run for two hours a day, have a couple of hours down time then she would give him books to study while answering questions. For the first two weeks they would practice hand to hand combat but as Harry's body and skills improved it became apparent he was unwilling to use his full potential against Tonks for fear of hurting her, much to her annoyance. Tonks was bought out of her quite observance of Harry by a whimper from the subject of her attention. Looking at watch and seeing it was just before 7am she decided to intervene in what she was sure to be the start of a nightmare.

She slowly approached Harry's bed. Gently removing his wand from his grip, she leant over and kissed his scar. Harry jerked awake.

'Morning, handsome,' Tonks said gently.

'Morning, Dora. What time is it? And how long have you been here?'

'It's a little after 7am and about 2 hours but they were well spent admiring you,' she replied cheekily. Smiling at the blush that brought to his cheeks, she continued.

'I'll grab us some breakfast while you get dressed and then while we eat I can tell you the news from last night's meeting.'

A Breakfast laden Tonks re-entered the room 15 minutes later to find Harry dressed and reading a book on Wimbourne Wasps that she'd bought him last week in a last-ditch attempt to convert him to her favourite quidditch team but it appeared she was too late as Oliver Wood seemed to have claimed Harry's quidditch allegiance.

An easy smile from Harry greeted her and they settled down into their now established breakfast routine and Tonks proceeded to tell Harry about the plan for his relatives and his transfer date.

-0-0-0-

Three days later saw the loud but uneventful removal of the Dursleys from Privet Drive leaving Harry alone in the house much to his annoyance. Dora was otherwise occupied preparing for his transfer the following evening.

The argument they'd had the day before wasn't pretty but she'd won it in the end much to Harry's chagrin. He was uneasy and he considered doing a runner before The Order came to get him but reconsidered after the image of Dora, Hermione, Fleur and Molly coming after his hide came into his mind. Voldemort was nothing compared to those women's combined wrath, although he wished Dora wouldn't put herself in such direct danger for him. Harry thoughts moved on to the impending Weasley wedding he was about to be thrown into. He really didn't know what to expect from a wizarding wedding. Part of him was glad he had the opportunity to witness one before his own but he was slightly nervous of the idea of Molly Weasley in wedding mode.

He was glad Fleur had found someone to see her for her and not her veela heritage. He reflected that through the contract Sirius had given both him and Tonks a chance at that. The more time he spent with Dora the more he realized she wasn't fazed by him or his fame and that was very unusual, in fact apart from her only the Weasley twins had made him feel that comfortable.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts by a rapid knock at the door signalling The Order's arrival and his final exit from number 4, Privet drive.

**AN/ Sorry for the delay, thank you to my Beta's for their quick turn around and advice. Thank you for all the reviews, favourites and Alerts believe it it or not (based on my current update rate) they are great motivators. I have finished the next chapter so hopefully that will be posted by the end of the month. I am a paragraph or two away from finishing chapter 12 as well so fingers cross my next couple of updates should be quicker than the last 6 months. /AN**


	11. Chapter 11 Meet the parents

Chapter 11 Meet the parents

Written by Csunsure

Beta'd by Alix33

Chaos2007

s . o. ul.

Harry's head was all over the place. Somehow the Death Eaters knew, Hedwig was dead, and his friends were still out there. Dora was still out there, all in danger. Hagrid was hurt and now he was meeting future in-laws for the first time. "This could only happen to me" Harry thought as he limped towards the house that Tonks grew up in. His ribs were killing him. Suddenly, the back door flew open, and a slender man and woman stormed out. The woman headed towards Hagrid as the man approached him.

Harry took in the man's appearance. He was tall, at least 6 ft. 3, he had greying blond hair and brilliant blue eyes that had a spark. Harry prepared to fight but thankfully the man asked 'Who am I to you?' not dropping his wand

Swallowing hard Harry replied 'My future father-in-law, I think'

With this declaration, the man's features softened and he put his hand out.

'Nice to finally meet you, Harry,' Ted said while slinging an arm round Harry's shoulder taking some of Harry's weight. 'Let's go and get you fixed up before my wife has my guts for garters for delaying your reunion with my daughter'.

As they entered the modest detached house, Harry took one last look at back garden to see Hagrid and Andromeda slowly making their way. Harry focused his attention back on the house. It was bigger than 4 Privet Drive but not by much. It felt homely. The kitchen looked to be a weird combination of muggle and magical but it seemed to work.

'Let's head up to the study, if we have time I'll show you Nym's room if you want'

Ted set to work on Harry's injuries patching him up as best he could so that Harry could safely portkey. He worked mainly in silence and Harry wasn't sure what to say so he stayed silent unless asked a question.

After 5 minutes Harry's main injuries were dealt with and Harry began to rise with the intention of finding Hagrid.

He was stopped by Ted's gentle voice

'You know Harry I wish we were meeting in more normal circumstances where I could have given you a proper grilling as the boy who has stolen my daughter's heart but I guess I lost that right as soon as I signed that archaic contract. I don't know how much my daughter has told you about our family but I'm a muggle-born and when my wife first suggested we agree to Sirius's proposal I thought she was mad. I love my daughter and as I hope you are aware by now she is a very special person and not because of her abilities. I always hoped she'd find someone worthy of her of her own accord but as my wife pointed out it didn't look likely. When I was first told it was you Sirius intended to contract Nym to I was worried not because of the war or the rubbish The Prophet was spouting but because I didn't think someone of your age and status would value my daughter for who she is. Nevertheless, everything I've heard of you so far makes me think I was wrong. I don't think Nym would have found as good a match as you on her own, she's too rebellious, like her mother.'

At this, Mr. Tonks smirked but Harry decided he didn't want to know why. Mr. Tonks' expression went serious again and it made Harry nervous.

'I want you to know I expect you to look after my daughter and when I signed that contract I was giving you the thing I treasure the most. I know given the circumstances love may not be part of your marriage but I hope it is.

I'm not sure how much you know about the traditions of the wizarding world Harry but as Sirius and your parents are no longer with us I feel the need to tell you what I know of the wizarding society so you can do the best by Nymphadora. As a pureblood lord you will need to protect the women of your family with your status. People will notice Nymphadora. In some respects the wizarding world is stuck in the 19th century, one such area is women's status in high society. It's slowly changing and Hogwarts hides it well as Dumbledore was quite liberal but the wizarding world wastes a lot of potential by the expectations and constraints it places on women. I know by signing that contract I gave away the right to ask this but if you are the man I think you are I hope you will respect and support my daughter and most importantly try to make her happy. '

'I will, sir' Harry stated solemnly

'Let's go find my wife before she thinks I've killed you, thank you for respecting an old man's overprotective nature.'

When they reached the kitchen, they found Hagrid and Andy chatting with tea. Spotting Harry, Hagrid rose 'Thanks for the tea Andy, but we best be off now'

'Mr. Potter, I see you survived my husband's care. I hope you can visit us again in calmer circumstances as I'd very much like to get to know the young man my daughter talks so much of but alas now is not the time. Please remind my daughter we do like to see her,' said Mrs. Tonks. Harry, however, was mildly distracted by the thought that if Tonks aged anything like her mother he was very lucky.

Thanking his future in-laws for their help, Harry grabbed the portkey and the Tonks swirled out of view. With a thump, he landed in the familiar land of the Burrow.

-0-0-0-

Far from being the sanctuary The Burrow normally was for Harry, the wedding preparation had turned it into Harry's own personal hell. The combination of fallout from Moody's death, being surrounded by overemotional women at every turn while trying to avoid a very flirtatious Ginny was exhausting for Harry. To make matters worse there had been no sign of Tonks since the night he arrived. However the lack of Dora would change tomorrow as it was his birthday and Tonks and Moony had been invited to The Burrow a day early to celebrate and help set up the protections for the wedding. Harry was counting down the hours until he was 17.

-0-0-

Tonks was eager to get to the Burrow. She'd missed Harry more than she would admit in the last two days. Today was his birthday and finally she didn't have to feel guilty for being attracted to him. Although odd for there to be such a big age gap, at least they were both adults now and any relationship would at least be accepted.

She was aiming to get to the Burrow for breakfast. If she'd learnt anything from the time she'd dated Charlie, it was that you should never turn down an opportunity of a breakfast cooked by Molly Weasley.

Arriving at the Burrow, she was greeted by a frazzled looking Molly Weasley and directed to the kitchen table.

Molly bustled off into the kitchen soon. Tonks was joined at the table by a topless dozy looking Harry who appeared to be unaware of her presence. She decide to alert him.

'Do you always come down to breakfast shirtless, birthday boy? If you do, I think it may become my favourite meal of the day'

Harry suddenly became very aware of his company but before he had a chance to reply Fleur and Hermione joined the table. 'Happy birthday, Harry' they stated in near unison. Hermione noticed Tonks and added 'Morning Tonks'

A half-awake Arthur and Ginny sat down just as Molly brought in breakfast. The table broke into a near silent breakfast routine when a knock at the window disturbed them: waiting on the other side were two aggressive-looking owls.

Molly move to let them in and both headed straight to Harry. He retrieved both letters and sent the owls on their way. The first was a short missive from the new minister of magic saying he wanted to deliver Dumbledore's bequests. The second was from Gringotts, asking Harry to come in so they could sort out his inheritances and to inform him of the fact that he was contracted for marriage. To whom was public knowledge as of 00:01 this morning.

Just as Harry finished reading the letter the Prophet owl flew through the window depositing the paper in front of Hermione and Arthur. The gasps that emanated from Ginny and Molly's mouths drew Tonks' attention away from Harry and she immediately spotted the cause.

**The-Boy-Who-Lived finally 17, but sorry ladies he's already taken!**

By Crystal Moore

Tonks listened as Molly demanded Arthur read the story out. It went on to detail a highly fictional version of Harry's life so far and then stated that following pure-blood traditions Harry was contacted to be married. It then went on to speculate on who Harry's bride might be.

None of the guesses was anywhere close. Resisting the urge to laugh Tonks looked at Harry and saw that he was trying and failing to blend in with the kitchen furniture.

As Arthur finished the article, the entire table looked at Harry.

Not knowing what to say Harry quietly excused himself from the table claiming wanting to get dressed but it was obvious to all that was not his motivation. Molly looked like she was going to forbid him from escaping but a significant look from Arthur halted her intervention.

-0-0-0-

After breakfast, Harry snuck out of the Burrow in an attempt to avoid the questions that were bound to come. As he moved towards the pond, he heard an unexpected voice calling his name. He turned around to see Arthur Weasley heading in his direction.

"Harry, son, care to join me in the shed?' Although said in friendly manner it was clear it wasn't really a question but more of an order or as much as an order as Mr. Weasley ever gave.

Nodding, Harry followed the Weasley patriarch.

'Harry, I just wanted you to know that I'm still here for you if you want to talk. I have considered you my son in all but blood since you were 12 years old and whether or not you were married to my daughter, nothing will change that.

Molly always hoped for you as a son-in-law and I know that the contract you're in is not with my daughter so that won't be happening and while Ginny and Molly may be upset for a while they do know that this type of contract cannot be changed, they'll come round eventually.'

'Thank you Mr. Weasley, it means a lot to me that you would still let me come to you even if I am not officially a Weasley.'

'You're welcome, Harry, and you're an adult now so I'd be honored if you'd call me Arthur.'

'Okay, Mr. - Arthur'

The rest of the morning was just as eventful, first came Hermione ranting about the archaic nature of the wizarding world then came Ron's insensitive and sometimes lewd comments about what he and his wife may get up to and it took all of Harry's self-control not to lose it. The morning was wrapped up by a run-in with Ginny that involved tears and door slamming.

The party for Harry's birthday started a little after 3pm but was a little lackluster with Molly giving Harry the cold shoulder, Ginny nowhere to be seen and most of the guests fixated on The Prophet's morning headline. At five, the minister of magic arrived, just to add another dampener to the mood by gate-crashing the party. After the minister's somewhat interesting exit, Remus approached Harry saying that he suspected Sirius had done something like this and that he was there if Harry ever needed to talk.

Finally at about seven the party ended and Harry finally managed to get some alone time with Tonks while the others tidied up. Entering the room he shared with Ron, Harry flopped down on his bed. Tonks moved to sit next to him while putting up some privacy wards.

'Finally I get you to myself, Mr. Potter, they haven't taken the news of your status well, have they?' Tonks said, grabbing his hand.

'No but I hope it will be easier when we come clean. Dora, I've missed you the last couple of days. You don't know how worried I was when you and Ron were so late. It killed me that I couldn't show much interest in you.'

'Harry, I think I know a thing or two about worrying after all I'm dating you. Anyway, time for your presents.'

'Presents?'

'Well if I can't spoil you who can?'

Harry first present was pretty standard: a book on defensive wards and another on defensive magic. 'I thought it might come in useful, how's the planning with Ron and Hermione going?'

'Okay but Mrs. Weasley keeps trying to separate us, but I think we'll leave soon after the wedding.'

'I wish you would agree to me going with you, Harry, after all I've got no commitments and I'm a trained metamorphous Auror, for Merlin's sake.' Tonks said with rising anger.

'Dora, we've talked about this: the Order needs you, we wouldn't be able to explain your presence to Hermione and Ron without coming clean, and that would just be awkward especially considering their reactions today. You're safer away from me …'

'You're safer with me though, Harry,' Tonks all but shouted and Harry was glad for the wards

'That may be so but you distract me and you know it, if something happened to you it would be the end. Besides I promised your dad the other day that I'd look after you and I intend to keep that promise by at least not putting you in more danger than you already put yourself in.'

Before Tonks could respond Harry had pulled her in to him and kissed her lightly on the lips. Pulling away slightly, Harry spoke so softly Tonks barely heard him, making her doubt whether she was meant to hear 'if I had my way you wouldn't even be in the country'

As much as she loved the feel of closeness to Harry, Tonks knew that their time together was limited so she decided that it was time for the next present.

'Harry I was wondering if you might be willing to try something for me?' Tonks asked tentatively.

'Erm, yeah sure' Harry responded, nervously wondering where this was going. He really was ready for more than kissing.

'Harry, it's not what you are thinking although it will involve a little pain.' This statement really didn't help Harry but it did amuse Tonks

'I really like piercing and I was wondering if you'd get one for me? I think I like them coz I can't really wear them with the morphing. I know I can't openly claim you but I really want you to have a sign you are mine even if only we know the significance.' She blushed a bit at her possessiveness and nervous of Harry's reaction she was uncharacteristically still. It was the first time she'd made any kind of claim on Harry and she was wondering if it was too soon for Merlin's sake they hadn't got much further than hands. Looking at Harry, she started to panic at the unreadable expression on his face and decided to play down her request.

'You don't have to if you don't want to, Harry, but I think a piercing would look hot on you.' She paused considering something before continuing 'did you know it was me that persuaded both Bill and Charlie to get their first piercings?' Harry looked slightly taken-aback by that admission but Tonks continued 'but please don't tell Molly, I don't need any more crosses against my name in her book.'

Harry thought about it. He had to admit that Bill and Charlie's piercings were pretty cool. Although mentions of Charlie and Bill's close friendship with Dora did stir a little jealously. After a little more consideration, he concluded that he really liked the idea of having a visible physical reminder of Tonks even if only they knew its significance. He also liked the sense of rebellion knowing how Mrs. Weasley felt about piercing it would be a great way to signal he was in charge of himself now even if it was Tonks' idea.

Smiling, he looks at Tonks. 'Okay, Dora, you've convinced me: what were you thinking and where?'

Tonks' smile at his declaration made his stomach flip.

'I was thinking helix piercing and I'm glad you said yes coz I pick up this a couple of weeks ago. It reminded me of us.'

She fished a small bar out of her jeans and handed it to Harry and he immediately saw what she meant. The small bar had a gemstone on either end: one was alexandrite and the other emerald.

'Do you want me to do it now?' Harry nodded in response.

Five minutes, a little pain and a few kisses later Harry was sporting his new bar.

'It looks good on you, Hon.' Tonks said, admiring Harry's new look. Not wanting to be distracted just yet, Tonks swiftly moved on.

'Harry, now that you can legally use magic would you like to learn how to do a speaking patronus?'

'That would be great, Dora.'

For the next 30 minutes, they worked together until Harry had mastered the spell. Harry was particularly pleased when one message made Tonks blush.

'Harry, I have one more present for you that I hope will remind you of me while you're away.'

Steeling herself for a negative reaction, she moved across the room. She gently pushed Harry's chest until he was lying on the bed. She proceeded to climb on top of him and snog the living daylights out of him. Once he'd overcome his initial shock at Dora's forwardness Harry thoroughly focused his attention on the woman above him, not quite believing his luck. Wanting to take charge Harry flipped Tonks under him and for the next 20 minutes, their mouths did battle. Eventually they returned to sitting, both looking thoroughly sated and grinning like idiots.

Harry had never experienced anything like that before and he knew he wanted more. He was sure he would remember this birthday for years to come.

The haze of the last couple of hours was abruptly broken by the door flying open "HARRY have you …" Hermione paused, noticing Tonks 'seen Ron'.

**AN/ Thank you for all the reviews, favourites and alerts. Thank you to my brilliant betas. The next chapter is done but in a effort to make my chapter postings consistence I won't be posting it til mid may in an attempt to finish chapter 13 /AN**


	12. Chapter 12 Speculation and separation

**Chapter 12 Speculation and separation**

Written by csunsure

Beta'd by alix33, Chaos2007 and Soul Of reficUL

It was three days after the wedding or more significantly the fall the Ministry of Magic and the disappearance of The-Chosen-One. Tonks found herself sat in the dining room of Longbottom Hall surrounded by Order members squabbling over where Harry was, whom he was contracted to and most importantly what he was doing.

Since Moody's death McGonagall had been appointed leader of The Order. Unfortunately she had yet to arrive so Tonks chose to amuse herself by listening to her fellow Order members' speculations over Harry's bride-to-be.

'Hermione Granger'

'You can't be serious Elphias no muggle in Britain would ever allow their daughter enter a marriage contract like that. It has to be a Pure-Blood or Half blood'

'Lavender Brown'

'No, there's no way Heath would keep quiet about it, you know what he's like'

'One of the Patils '

'Doubt it, didn't you see Skeeter's article on the Yule ball'

'What about Skeeter?'

'Be serious Harry would never agree to that'

' Ah … I've got it, the Bones girl'

'Possible but with Amelia gone who would sign it?'

'But it could have been done years ago'

'What about one of the MacDougal girls?'

'That's a real possibility, we know how private they are'

'What about across the pond I know the Blishwicks have a few daughters I think there youngest … is her name Madison? Well, I think she's only a couple of years older than Harry.'

'That would make sense as it would be a way to get him out of the country easily'

Molly voice bellowed over the masses 'While I can see why you are enjoying the guessing game has it occurred to any of you that it could be a plot by You-know-who's followers to control that dear boy.'

'Molly, just because you wanted Harry for young Virginia doesn't mean that it's a dark plot. I doubt either Lily, James or Sirius would agree to a contract with a dark family.'

Thankfully McGonagall entered and the speculation was brought to an end for now.

'Sorry I'm late, unfortunately I had an incident at Hogwarts. It seems the new régime has decided I am not a suitable Headmistress and Snape has been appointed the new Headmaster' at the statement there was a cacophony of objections.

'WE shall discuss this later in the meeting. Now our first order of business, has anybody heard from Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger or Mr. Potter? Molly? Arthur? Remus?'

'Nothing to me.' Remus stated dejectedly

'Well I sent them a Patronus telling them we were safe but not to contact us' said Arthur.

Tonks decided to put her head above the parapet and spoke to the group but focused her gaze on her parents 'Harry sent me a Patronus message yesterday to let me know they were safe and that we shouldn't expect to hear from them for a while.'

She finished speaking and you could hear a pin drop and many Order members looking confused. Whether it was that Harry could do a talking patronus or that Harry had chosen to contact her she didn't know or care. She looked around the room despairing that something so simple could render the group speechless. Chancing a glance at Remus she saw a particularly inquisitive look. She made a mental note to be careful around him in future.

'Thank you, Miss Tonks'

The Order moved on a pace but Dora wasn't really paying attention until they got to assignments.

'Charlie, would you be able to continue the information gathering and recruitment of the continent?'

'Of course but I think my absences are beginning to be noticed'

Suddenly Tonks heard her dad speak

'What about sending Nymphadora with Charlie? She speaks fluent German and Russian and would easily blend in.'

Tonks wanted to protest but Molly interjected too quickly.

'That's a good idea, she could stay with Charlie on the reserve'

'Okay, those in favor?' stated McGonagall

Everyone but herself, Charlie and Remus raised their hands.

'That's decided. When are you planning on returning to Romania, Charlie?'

'Day after Ginny's birthday'

'Do you think you can house Miss Tonks?' asked McGonagall

'Shouldn't be a problem, should it, Ny?' Charlie said with a wink.

Before Tonks could protest, McGonagall continued.

'Right, Miss Tonks, can you be ready by the 12th of August?'

Sparing a glare at her father and Charlie, she nodded. Tonks's sympathy for Harry was increasing by the minute as her frustration with the Order's decision-making process grew. However, she knew better than to make a fuss now and she supposed she should be grateful about being placed out of immediate danger but had anyone ever heard of free will?

Tonks opted for stewing for the remainder of the meeting. As the meeting drew to a close Molly came and invited her to the Burrow, then her mother demanded that she spend a few days with her and her father before leaving the country. As she reached the apparation point a hand gripped her upper arm. Acting on instinct she went into combat mode and floored her would-be assailant. Threat contained she examined her attacker to discover much to her dismay it was one Remus Lupin.

Thinking her options through Tonks decided to side-apparate Remus to her flat so she could treat the injuries she'd inflicted on the werewolf and talk, as she guessed that was what he wanted.

Placing a levitation charm on Remus, she moved him to the apparation point. Seconds later she was in her flat. Placing Remus on the sofa, she fixed his visible injuries.

'Rennervate' Tonks intoned

'Sorry 'bout that, Remus, but did no-one ever tell you not to take an auror by surprise.'

Sitting up, Remus gave her a somewhat sheepish look 'Sorry, I wasn't really thinking, I just wanted to get to you before you left.'

'Well you succeeded in that you have my undivided attention, Moony, so what can I help you with?'

'I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on Harry.'

'Oh what makes you think I know anymore than I already shared with The Order?'

'Well, I've noticed over the last couple of years that you have displayed increasing level of interest in my cub. You spent most of the beginning of this summer with Harry and at Bill's wedding, you reeked of Harry's scent.

'What are you getting at, Remus?' Tonks stated testily.

'Well what I would like to know is what is going on with _you_ and Harry?' Remus shot back in a harsh tone.

'We're friends Remus, we care about each other.'

Tonks said, deciding that she wouldn't lie to Remus about the contract but at the moment she wouldn't confirm her relationship unless asked directly. It wasn't that long ago that Remus had hit on her and she didn't want to damage Remus's relationship with Harry.

'Fine but why would Harry send you a message and not me?'

'Maybe because I taught him how to send a message and he knows I'm in The Order, maybe coz he trusts me or maybe because I listen to him and treat him like an adult.' she responded hotly. Was it so unbelievable that Harry would choose to communicate with her?

Remus looked slightly scared facing the worked up Metamorph and then it hit him.

'You're in love with Harry.' Remus exclaimed. It was a statement not a question. He didn't stop there, it was like all the pieces finally came together 'It's you, isn't it, you're his betrothed? It makes sense, Sirius trusted you, you're a Black by blood, you are young enough and it protects you as well.'

Tonks nodded, not knowing what else to do, cursing the quick wits of the marauder but knowing that there was no point in lying and that Harry wouldn't mind too much.

'Remus, please don't tell anyone. The only ones that know are my parents as they wrote the contract with Sirius and Poppy Pomfrey. Harry wants to keep it a secret: he's scared it will make me a target and turn his few friends against him.'

'Don't worry, I won't say a word, I'm happy for you both. I just wish you'd told me sooner. I could have helped, how long have you known?

'Nearly two years, my parents and Sirius arranged it without telling either of us shortly after the tri-wizard debacle. Harry only found out Christmas 1995.

Remus suddenly paled '… Oh Merlin, I hope Harry doesn't know I went after his woman.'

'He doesn't, but I'll be sure to tell him one day' Dora smirked

'Okay but I'll plead ignorance. Now we've cleared that up just what have _you_ and my cub been up to?' Remus asked in an insinuating tone.

-o-o-

Tonks had been in the reserve near Roseni for 3 month now and she was a frustrating combination of bored and worried.

Last month she'd received a letter from her distraught mother that her father had been forced on the run because of his blood status. She really didn't know what to do, she wanted to go home but her mum had expressly forbid it and The Order still needed her here. On top of that no one had heard anything from Harry and she hadn't even had an opportunity to tell him she'd left the country. The only comfort she had was the enchantment she'd placed on Harry's helix bar before she inserted it was still heating her locket so he was definitely alive.

The Order had sent her and Charlie frequent updates on the state of the UK as well as orders. Most of the work they did, was surveillance and a little bit of recruitment. Tonks had also become Victor Krum's handler.

Charlie had managed to get Tonks a job in a local wizarding bar and in the last two months she'd gotten a lot better at Romanian. However it wasn't exciting work and she often felt guilty that she wasn't at the frontline taking Voldy down.

Her relationship with Charlie was weird to say the least, it was clear that even before they left the UK Molly was trying to push them together and awkwardly Charlie didn't seem to mind.

She lived with Charlie in a moderately sized 2-bedroom apartment about 30 minutes walk from the reserve.

She'd successfully avoided the elephant in the room since she arrived in Romania, until this morning.

She had just finished showering and was about to spell her hair dry when Charlie burst into the bathroom

'CHARLIE WEASLEY What in the name of Merlin's saggy balls do you think you're doing? You're lucky I'm dressed' Tonks shrieked.

'Its not like I haven't seen it before and I certainty wouldn't mind seeing it again.' He replied with a cheeky grin.

'You prat, that is not okay! We are not dating and we won't be either!'

'Ah, spoilsport' Charlie said in faux disappointment.

'I'm getting out of here, so you can do whatever it was that was so urgent that you had to disturb me.' with that Tonks went to the get her breakfast.

5 minutes later Charlie came into the kitchen and wrapped his arms round Tonks' waist. To start with it felt natural, after all, they'd dated for 3 years, then she remembered Harry and tired to wriggle out of Charlie's hold. Charlie however was having none of it and bent to whisper in her ear.

'Ny, over the last few weeks I've been struggling to explain how we ever broke up.' Somehow Charlie managed to twist Tonks round and had planted his lips on hers. She opened her mouth to protest but Charlie took that as an invitation to slide his tongue into her mouth. For a few seconds her body took over and followed the established routine before her brain kicked in and she did the only thing she could think of and kneed him in the crotch. It had the desired affect and Charlie stopped his ministrations and fell to the floor.

Leaning over her ex with her hand firmly on her hip Tonks began an overdue conversation.

'Charlie, I think we need to have a little talk considering I'm living here for the foreseeable future and I think you value your family jewels enough to not want a repeat of just now. However to answer your question of sorts we broke up coz you wanted dragons more than me.'

'But now I have both so what do you say?' Charlie said as smoothly as possible for someone kicked in the jewels.

Tonks chose to ignore the latest question.

'You know I trust you, C, but I need you to take an oath not to share what I'm about to tell you until I'm ready. So that I can answer that proposal honestly coz even though you are an annoying prat, I still want you as a mate.'

Breathlessly Charlie manages to get off the floor onto a nearby bench and proceeds to make an oath.

'C I need you to listen to what I'm about to tell you and don't interrupt.

'Nothing can or will ever happen romantically between us again, C, the kiss you just stole was the last taste of me like that you'll ever get. Charlie, I love you but not the way you want, need or deserve. I haven't loved you that way for a while. We had our chance at 19 and we blew it. You are one of my best friends and I hope it stays that way. I know you, Charlie, and right now you are concocting a plan to woo me but you're wasting your time. I know the only way to truly stop you from trying is to tell you why and plan will fail.

What I'm about to tell you is known by 6 living people and needs to stay that way. ... C, I'm betrothed to Harry Potter.'

Charlie's eyes almost popped out of his head and he looked like he may fall off the bench he was perched on.

'Bloody hell! Did you just say your betrothed to Harry Potter, my little brother's best friend and Ginny's lifelong crush?'

'Yep the one and the same.'

'How? When? Why? And shit my mother and sister are going to hit the roof when they find out.'

'We think a lot of people might hence the secrecy. As for how and why it was my parents and Sirius's idea so you'll have to ask them I had nothing to with it but the rules of the contract are pretty tight. As for the when, just before Harry's 15th birthday.'

'I really missed the boat then?'

'Yep, big style' Tonks smiled

'Ny, you and Harry don't ever do things the easy way, do you? Does Harry know you're the lucky lady he's stuck with?'

'Yeah, it scared the living daylights out of the both of us for a while but we're getting along better than I expected all things considered.'

'Well I'm happy for you, Ny, and I promise no more attempts at kissing or groping. Harry is a lucky bastard to get you, I hope you've let him know that and I'll make sure he knows if he doesn't treat you like you deserve I'll set dragons on him.'

Tonks let out an uncharacteristic giggle at the image this statement created in her mind.

'You know what I said earlier about my mum and Ginny? I think when this comes out it/s going be unpleasant for a while. My mum's had her heart set on Harry as a son-in-law-since he was 12 and Ginny has been dreaming of marrying him since she was 5.

The women in my family are not accustomed to not getting what they want. I think Harry will need you and I doubt they'll think through their words for a while.

I'll support both of you no matter what, I hope you know that.'

'Thank for the support and heads up, Charlie. You really a great friend and if I have to be away from Harry I'm glad I'm stuck with you.'

-0-0-0-

With just herself and Harry in the tent now Hermione has taken to discreetly observing her best friend at every opportunity. There's one thing she's noticed a lot lately: he's always playing with his piercing, but why? She chalks it up to yet another Harry Potter mystery that she solve at some point.

Thinking about that piercing brought a smile to her face. She wasn't normally one for piercings or acts of rebellion but this one suited Harry. She had to hold back a giggle as she remembered Molly Weasley's reaction.

She was just at the top of the stairs heading down to breakfast at The Burrow when the bellow of Mrs. Weasley woke the house.

'HARRY JAMES POTTER, WHAT IS THAT?'

Running down the stairs to the source of the racket Hermione was quickly followed by Charlie, Arthur and the twins.

'It's a helix piercing Mrs. Weasley' Harry replied matter of factly.

'Why have you pierced your ear with that horrible thing?'

'Because I wanted to' said Harry, slightly confused at the slightly obvious question.

'Well I never, why must perfectly respectable young men insist on making themselves look like hoodlums?' Molly asked to herself 'well you're going to take it out young man, I'm not having my Bill's wedding destroyed by guests looking unseemly.'

'No I'm not Mrs. Weasley, I like it and I'm sure more people will be paying Bill's ears than mine.

Hermione could feel Charlie silently shaking with laugher behind her.

'HOW DARE YOU, NO SON' Molly started only to be cut off by a now irate Harry.

'But that it Mrs. Weasley I'M NOT YOUR SON and I'm NEVER going to be one no matter how much you might want it! I love your family and you have been the closest thing I've had to a family since I re-entered the wizarding world but as of yesterday I am an adult and I am the one in control of my life. I have Voldemort after me and I will be the one to take him down but whether I do it with or without this earring will be my decision.' Taking a breath and calming himself Harry continued.

'Sorry for the extra stress I've caused you this morning. I certainly didn't think such a small thing would cause such a problem. I understand if you want me to give back Fabian's watch I know it's important to you and you might want it to stay in the family and if don't want me at the wedding I can stay out the way.'

It was Bill, who had appeared mid argument, who answered ' Harry, I want you in my wedding. We probably wouldn't be having a wedding if it wasn't for your actions in the tournament. I don't care if you had tattooed your whole body and insisted on attending in the buff you are always welcome.'

'Thank Bill but I think I'll wear clothes.' Was Harry's response.

Harry went to leave but was stopped by Arthur 'Harry, while this argument may not have the best timing we all want you with us today and we certainly didn't mean to suggest otherwise'. Molly nodded at this but remained tight-lipped. '

Molly, do you want the watch back? The Weasley matriarch hesitated slightly at her husband's question before quietly 'No, I want Harry to have it.'

'Okay now that that's sorted, I vote we get some of Molly's amazing breakfast down us we've got a long day ahead of us.' Arthur says rubbing his hands together and heading to the table. The room's other occupants followed suit. 30 minutes later as Harry finished his light breakfast and started to exit the kitchen a half asleep Ron, who had somehow slept the earlier excitement, entered.

'Cool earring, Harry' said Ron utterly oblivious of the groans that statement elicited from the rest of the room.

**AN / Massive thanks to my betas. Thank you for the reviews, yet again they've led me to alter the story's path yet again, which you will see in the next chapter. Thank you for all the favourites and alerts. see you next month (hopefully!) /AN thanks to the dork knight for highlighting something in their review -and here's the explanation I am aware that Virginia is not Ginny's name but I do not think many order members would know her real name and would assume it was something more common.  
**


	13. Chapter 13 England Callling

beta'd by Alix33 and chaos2007

**Chapter 13 England calling**

She was numb when she'd left the UK all those months ago. Of all the scenarios she'd imagined bringing her home this was not one of them. Maybe it was the sense of invincibility that all children view their parents with, a naivety about the nature of the war or an obsession with Harry's role but her father's murder was not as expected as perhaps it should have been.

It was the end of March but the weather reflected her mood: grey skies with indications of a storm brewing and the spring breeze was more of a gale as she headed to her family home. Her breath seemed to leave her lungs as the house finally came into view. It seemed so long since the last time she was here although it was only a few months. She headed up the path wishing she was back here for a different reason. Stopping at the front door, she composed herself - trying to project a non-existent strength - before ringing the doorbell and alerting her mother to her presence. Yes she had a key but it didn't feel right to use it.

Tonks cringed as she remembered her agitation at seeing her parents during her last visit, the unwanted advice and interference that was eating into her packing time, now she wished she'd paid more attention.

Her thoughts went to her father: always the relaxed parent, the calming influence and the splash of humour to defuse the estrogen fuelled rants. Tonks wondered how her father survived when she was living under the same roof. Although she was loath to admit it she was, in a lot of ways her mother's daughter; fiery, opinionated, determined and rebellious any father's nightmare. add metamorphmagus to the mix and a handful was an understatement. Yet her father always fought fire with humour.

'oh what am I going to do without you daddy.' She thought as the door opened.

Her mother looked awful, as she expected given the circumstances, but one look in her mother's eyes and whatever composure Nymphadora had vanished. She always knew her parents loved each other after all you don't walk away from the Black family lightly but seeing her mum now was not something she was prepared for. Her mum was a shell of her normal commanding self, she seemed lost and Dora knew there was nothing she could do to ease her mother's pain she felt so useless. Charlie had offered to come back with her but she had refused. It was better for Harry that Charlie stayed where he was but at this moment she wished she hadn't refused. She needed someone to be there for her to support her so she could be strong for her mum instead of the wreck. With a pang she realized she wanted Harry but she did not even know where he was. The only reassurance was she knew wherever he was he was alive; the connection to his life-force she had created through his earring told her that much.

-0-0-0-

As April progressed the Tonks family had fallen into a routine of sorts although they hadn't received closure from a funeral as Ted's body had yet to be found by the Order. The war raging around them had forced mother and daughter to return to a slightly lacklustre business as usual. Travelling home after yet another Order operation she let her thoughts drift to her situation: living with her mother, unemployed, an enemy of the state, in a marriage contract to someone she now feared wouldn't survive the coming fight. On the plus side her father's murder and the grief and emotional need that followed it had forced her to overcome any remaining animosity she felt towards Andromeda surrounding the contract with Harry but she couldn't understand why someone who had sacrificed so much for love would force something that risked leaving her without it. Entering the house she now once again called home she went in search of her mother to reassure her of her safe return. She found her mum drinking tea in the living room seemingly staring into space again. Putting thoughts of Harry and the contract aside she joined her mum on the sofa and Andromeda gave the first inclination that she'd registered her daughter's presence by moving up to give Tonks space to sit.

'Hi mum, how's today been?'

'I found our wedding photo's today, … I don't know how to do this Dora your dad and I have been a team as long as I remember.' Dora gathered her now shaking mother up in her arms and joined her in tears.

Eventually they regained their composures and Andromeda spoke 'I know this is a bit unexpected but in the uncertainty of current times I want to make sure you know this. I'm sorry, Nymphadora, for not giving you the freedoms I and your father enjoyed. Recent events have made me realize just how much I've forced you to sacrifice by drawing up the marriage contract with Sirius and I am truly sorry.'

Dora felt vindication at the apology but she couldn't allow her mother to add another regret to her conscience. She was about to tell her mother of growing feelings for her betrothed, and how while she didn't find Harry in the way she would have wished she was glad to have him, when her mother began to speak quietly as if she was speaking a prayer

' I can but hope that one day you will get to experience what your father and I had,' tears filled Andromeda's eyes 'but as Harry is at the eye of this storm you may have freedom from this contract sooner than I could have imagined.'

Her words weren't said with malice or hope but with a finality that rocked Tonks to her core. Her mother's causal statement of Harry's likely demise from outside of her own fearful thoughts was too much for her to handle. Releasing her hold on her mother the room had suddenly become claustrophobic she had to get out. Rising from her seat she all but ran out of the house fighting the tears that were determined to fall passing the wards Tonks apparated to the first place she could think of.

**AN/ Sorry for the delay I have not forgotten this story but it has been a little unloved by me in favour for RL pressures. I don't like this chapter. it's short but it gets us where we are going next and it's helped me get over the writing block. I particularity want to thank Alix33 for their amazing correcting skills. all story chapters have now been check and improved. chapter 14 is being written and hopefully will go up mid November and it's already longer than this!/ AN**


	14. Chapter 14 Sanctuary

**Chapter 14 sanctuary**

Fleur was on guard. Somebody was approaching her husband's carefully crafted wards; she wasn't expecting a visitor and most people flooed now for security reasons.

She was making her way to the ward boundary with wand out in front.

'Who iz there?'

That's when it hit her: a guttural sob. Following the noise brought to her unexpected and heartbreaking sight: her friend Tonks sobbing in a ball, looking truly emotionally spent and oblivious to her surroundings. Ignoring protocol Fleur went to her side.

'Mon ami, let's get you in the cottage and then you can tell me what happened.'

This broke Tonks out of her misery and with the assistance of Fleur she got off the floor and started to pull herself together.

When they arrived at the cottage, challenging the Weasley matriarch, Fleur ushered Tonks into the lounge and headed into the kitchen to make some tea and discreetly floo call Mrs. Tonks.

'Ello, Madame Tonks, are you there?'

'Yes Fleur, has something happened to Nymphadora? She left here very suddenly. I presumed she'd been called on an Order mission. Is she hurt? Please tell me she's alive!" Andromeda Tonks was getting increasingly upset by the minute. Fleur had to stop the woman before she fainted with stress.

'Non, Madame, nothing has happened to your daughter. I just wanted to let you know that she will be staying with me and Bill for a couple of days.' Fleur decided this on the spur of moment. She'd tell Tonks later but clearly her friend needed some headspace and she wasn't going to say no to some non-Weasley company.

'Oh okay, thank you dear, knowing my daughter she wouldn't be so thoughtful.'

With that the call ended right on time for the whistling kettle.

Wandering back into the lounge Fleur took the opportunity to take in her friend's appearance. At best it was bedraggled. Tonks had flat shoulder length ebony hair with mousey brown eyes. The puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks and the fact that Tonks had done nothing to hide them was a clear sign of depth of the metamorph's distress. Registering Fleur's presence Tonks began talking rapidly

'Sorry, I didn't know where else to come, I didn't mean to intrude I … I just needed to get away from … My dad's dead. I wasn't here and I didn't do anything to stop it. I was so caught up in the war, Harry and the Order That I WASN'T EVEN HERE TO PROTECT MY OWN BLOODY FATHER!'

Fleur quickened her step and pulled the emotional witch into her embrace.

'It's okay, Tonks, you are welcome here any time. Bill and I are happy to see you.'

For the next half hour Tonks cried on Fleur's shoulder muttering unintelligible things. Finally Tonks stopped crying and Fleur realized that her friend had cried herself to sleep. Gently she extracted herself from her friend's grip, laid a throw over her friend and headed to the kitchen to dispose of the untouched tea. As she reached the kitchen Bill came through the floo.

She couldn't resist capturing his lips. All good things must come to an end and Fleur decided that her husband needed to be made aware of the unexpected guest in their living room.

'Bill, we have an unexpected visitor again …'

'Don't tell me my PRAT of a brother has abandoned Harry and Hermione again! I thought we got through his thick head last time. Where is he? I'm not letting him off easy this time…'

"Shh Bill, it's not Ron and she's currently asleep on the sofa and you better hope you haven't woken Tonks up because if you have the sofa is where you will be sleeping tonight!' the couple poked their heads around the door frame and thankfully for Bill Tonks was still dead to the world.

'Flower, what happened to her?'

' I don't know, she set the wards off and when I went to check it out I found her curled up in a ball sobbing, I bought her back and she just kept sobbing and mumbling about her papa and Harry. I flooed Mrs. Tonks and said that Nymphadora will be staying with us for a few days.'

'As long as it isn't Ron the more the merrier. I wonder what dirt she has on Charlie from her stay in Romania'

-0-0-0-

Tonks woke up in shock, "where was she? What time was it? What day was it? How did she get here?" Then it flooded back: her mother's words, her trip to Fleur's and her breakdown.

She looked around. It was now dark outside. Someone had put the fire on. She could hear noise coming from the kitchen. Getting up she almost tripped on the Egyptian rug covering the stone floor.

Carefully moving to the door she experienced a pang of jealousy when she laid eyes on Bill and Fleur enjoying a moment while preparing dinner. Bill was stood behind Fleur arms laced though hers as they worked, preparing vegetables in unison. She wanted this easy companionship with Harry. Instead all she had was uncertainty and the unknown.

Looking at Bill and Fleur Tonks found it hard to reconcile the torment outside of the cottages wards with the love that radiated throughout the cottage. Deciding she needed to make herself known before the couple in front of her decided to up their activities, she cleared her throat.

'Er hem' the couple in question jumped apart.

'Oh hi Tonks, Fleur told me you'd come for a visit. I hope we didn't wake you. My wife does not know how to cook quietly, must be a French thing.' Bill said with an easy smile even after a playful slap and glare from Fleur.

' No you didn't, but I should be getting back, it's late and mum doesn't know where I am and after all that has happened I know she'll be worried'

' No need, I flooed her earlier to let her know you'd be staying with us for a couple of days. I've missed having a women to talk to. Bill just doesn't know how to gossip.' They all laughed at this ' why don't you grab a bath? Dinner will be ready in an hour if my lovely husband stops distracting me.'

Tonks didn't need telling twice. She headed up to the bath.

When she returned dinner was already on the table and she settled down to a delicious meal with light conversation.

'Bill has set up one of the guest bedrooms for you, I hope it's okay' Fleur stated as she dismissed Tonks' attempts to help with the clean-up.

'Just how many guest bedrooms do you guys have?'

'Four at the moment but we hope that there will only be one in a few years time,' Bill replied with a grin at his wife.

'Well I don't want to know any more about your nocturnal activities, so could you show me to my room? And please remember the silencing charms later. You wouldn't want to explain to my mother how you managed to corrupt her only child,' Tonks said, smiling.

-0-0-0-

A lazy Saturday turned into a pleasant evening Tonks was enjoying Bill and Fleur's easy and distracting company. Unfortunately the relaxed atmosphere was not to last. Twice in as many days the ward alarms echoed through the cottage.

This time Tonks and Bill went to investigate

'It better not be Ron again, it was bad enough we had him for 3 weeks over Christmas but if he's left Hermione and Harry again he'll learn what happens when you piss off your big brother.' Bill all but growled.

'Why'd he leave them, that doesn't sound like the famous Gryffindor trio?' Tonks asked, trying to ask casually.

'Hunger and jealousy I'm guessing – he was stick thin even by his standards. The daft prat mentioned he thought something was going on between Harry and Hermione, but I suspect dear Ronnie is a bit too used to our mother's coddling and not so patient roughing it. Also you'd have to be blind not to see he's got a bit of a thing for our bushy haired genius but doesn't know what to do about it.'

Tonks felt a pang of anger at Ron and jealousy at Hermione, but she reminded herself nothing could have happen between Hermione and Harry if for no other reason than the contract. Deciding that the current thoughts were too distracting she decided to file this information away for later.

Exiting the cottage, there in the grounds of Shell Cottage stood a worse for wear Luna Lovegood, the wand maker Ollivander and a young man Tonks remembered from Harry's dorm.

Just as Bill and Tonks got the group to Fleur's care Tonks heard a scream from a voice she both longed to hear and dreaded.

'DOBBY!'

'DOBBY – no - HELP!'

'HELP!'*

-o-o-o-o-

The sound of his voice was all she needed to pelt towards the sound.

Bill was hot on her tail. Soon a bloodied Harry potter and Hermione Granger appeared in her line of sight. Ron looked okay if a little distraught. The goblin and house elf looked the worst of the brunch and if Harry's screams were to be believed the excitable elf named Dobby was dead.

Tonks couldn't contain her concern; Harry looked like shit. Forgetting herself she rushed to Harry, ignoring all the others and began to check him over. Gradually as she established he was in no need of immediate healing she regained some control. Before releasing Harry from her grip she whispered to seemingly no one 'why does it always have to be him?' Stepping back and looking him in the eyes for the first time she could see that he had heard her and was asking the same.

She was suddenly hyper aware that they were not alone and that Fleur, Bill and by the looks of it in spite of her current condition Hermione would certainly have questions later.

That could wait. Right now she could see Harry was past breaking point and needed help, what, she wasn't sure. Seeing him again had thoroughly discombobulated her thoughts.

Bouncing into action she entered Auror mode and authoritatively dismissed the others saying she would sort out Harry.

Ron was reluctant to leave his best mate but in a move that if Dora hadn't known better would have sworn Hermione planned the bushy haired bookworm convulsed in a way that screamed to Dora recent Cruciatus exposure.

Ron was now so preoccupied with Hermione that he forgot his objections and allowed Fleur to lead Hermione and himself to the safety of the cottage. Taking that as his cue Bill moved towards the goblin, scooping him up. As he departed he shot Dora a look that signalled the gig was up. Now, however, Harry and the other drop-ins were the immediate priority.

-o-o-o-o-

'Hermione? … Where is she?'*

Not the first thing Dora was hoping Harry would say and certainly it did nothing for her ego but she was grateful for Harry saying anything. She'd been sat next to him for the last 30 minutes while he stared almost as if in a catatonic trance at the dead house elf.

She wanted nothing more than to hug him but at the best of times Harry wasn't great with affection and instinctively even with so many months apart she knew while it would make her feel better now was not the time.

After informing Harry that everyone had retreated to the cottage she knew she had to intervene before he sunk back into his previous state. An idea struck

"Harry, I'm going to ask Bill or Fleur if there's a spade or two and then I think we should find somewhere with a good view as a final resting place."

-0-0-0-

Exhausted – he was mentally and physically - all Harry wanted to do right now was to make it stop, make everything stop.

Hitting the bed he remembered Dora forcing him to shower and making him eat –not that he ate much but she didn't seem to understand the impact only eating mushrooms had on someone's stomach after a couple of weeks. He'd lost the battle with Dora and Fleur over talking to Griphook or Ollivander tonight so why not sleep.

He woke with a start as he felt someone enter the room, where was he? Malfoy Manor? no he was on a bed – that ruled out the tent, ah Shell Cottage. He didn't know what time it was but whoever had opened the door was definitely still in the room. Harry laid as still as possible, hoping his intruder hadn't noticed his return to consciousness. Harry geared himself up for attack. Just as he was about launch when he heard:

"Bugger," the unmistakeable sound of Tonks attacking furniture or as she preferred furniture attacking her.

It brought a smile to Harry's face; he realized in that moment how much he'd missed her. While her intrusion caused him to be very much awake and aware of his surroundings he still couldn't work out why she was here.

"Dora, what time is it?"

"1am, go back to sleep, darling, I didn't mean to wake you. Blame the idiot who thought a bedside cabinet was a good idea.'

In his exhaustion Harry hadn't really thought through why Tonks we in the room so when Tonks joined him it took all his effort not to jump in surprise. He still had his back to her, but the movement of the mattress told him she was only an inch away

"Dora? What's going on?"

"I'm going to bed, silly, unless you want me to suffer on the sofa?"

"No I … I"

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I know you're a gentleman and won't subject my back to that flowery death trap. Now get some rest. We'll talk in the morning. For now we both need sleep,' with that she wrapped an arm around him and they both drifted off.

-0-0-0-

"Fleur, did you know about this?'

'Non, but after yesterday I guessed there might be something and I guess this confirms it.'

Tonks needed to get them to shut up Harry needed more sleep regardless of how high the sun might be in the sky. With some degree of regret and resentment towards her current observers she gently extricated herself from Harry and retrieved her wand. Waving it gently at Harry she turned to face the door.

'If you guys will stop your mothers' meeting I'm happy to answer your questions when I'm dressed and not in bed with an attractive young man. Give me 20 min and a fresh cup of coffee waiting for me and I'm all yours just don't wake up sleepyhead here,' Tonks finished motioning to Harry.

-0-0-

A quick shower and dress later and Tonks found herself facing a mug of coffee and two very expectant faces. Just because the gig was up she wasn't going to give the game away that easily.

"So…" started Bill.

"So…" replied Tonks.

"What time is it? Tonks attempted to ask innocently.

"7.30, but cut the crap, Nym, what's going on?"

Tonks mused that since his run-in with the werewolf Bill was a lot less patient.

'Ok, but I need you to ward this room from unsuspecting ears and vow to me you will not repeat this even to family," with a stern look at Bill who she knew at heart to be a bit of a mamma's boy .

After a grudging agreement mainly on Bill's part they sat back down. 'Let the grilling begin," Tonks thought to herself ruefully.

-0-0-0-

The sunlight streaming through the curtains finally put paid to one of the best nights of sleep Harry could remember having. He turned over hoping to see his sleeping companion only to be disappointed, but there was enough evidence to prove that Dora's presence hadn't been a creation of his over-active imagination.

-0—0-0-

Finally making it down to the kitchen Harry was surprised to see it full of people. As he entered the occupants of the room stopped their chatter

"Harry, you must be hungry, please join us for lunch" Fleur welcomed

At the table Harry could see Ron, Hermione, Dora, Fleur and Bill. His mind began to race 'where were Dean, Luna and Ollivander?' as if reading his thoughts Hermione spoke albeit shakily

"Harry before you ask Luna and Dean have gone to Ron's aunt Muriel's, Griphook and Olivander are upstairs resting, Ron made sure they stayed around" At that Harry started towards the stairs.

'Oi sleepyhead, they'll still be there after you've eaten, sit down,' Tonks said and Harry knew better than to argue with her right now so he plonked himself in the open seat next to Hermione opposite Tonks.

Lunch continued sedately and Harry was grateful. Hermione and Ron were first to depart Hermione citing the need for a rest and miraculously she managed to part Ron from food without complaint **. **

With Ron and Hermione's departure Bill and Fleur rose from the table and began to tidy leaving Harry staring at Tonks. Harry got up with the intention of going to talk to Ollivander and Griphook. Evidently Tonks had other ideas. As soon as he stood her wand was out, the door was shut and Muffliato was cast. Harry looked at Dora wondering what the hell Dora was doing. Bill and Fleur were still in the room. She didn't answer but motioned the seat he'd just vacated. Taking the hint he sat back down but with a scowl on this face irritated that Dora had yet again delayed his plan to talk to Ollivander and Griphook. Was it deliberate? Didn't she remember what was at stake?

"You can stop that right now, mister, you know I can give as good as I get and if the rumors I've heard from the Order and the extra scars on you I've seen are anything to go by you really seem determined not to make it back to me. Do you not remember our conversation before you disappeared… you promised me, Harry, and I hope you're keeping that promise because I want an us when this is over '

With that she reached across and grabbed his hands sending tingles down his spine "Harry, I will hold on the hundreds of questions I have until we're alone later today but when we do catch up just you and me, I need to know everything. No secrets, but right now I have a confession you need to know about ... I've broken our agreement."

Harry stiffened with that. Maybe some of the pain he'd felt over the last few months wasn't Voldemort, maybe it was the contract, maybe she got bored, Ron said she had lived with Charlie for a bit, did she do more than share a flat? Wait, she still wants an us, isn't that what she just said?

"What?" he asked, half confused half demanding pulling his hands out of her reach.

"Don't be like that, Harry, I had to tell Charlie about us to protect us and these two worked it out this morning."

Harry relaxed and noticed for the first time since the door shut the Bill and Fleur were doing less tidying and more listening.

"Oh" he relaxed.

-0-0-0-

Harry had been at Shell Cottage a few days now and after the obligatory congratulations and few questions from his hosts he'd finally got to talk to Ollivander and Griphook. He and Dora had managed to have a couple of slightly uncomfortable talks about the months they'd missed in each other's lives. Part of Harry wanted to thank Charlie for protecting Dora and being there for her when he couldn't, and a smaller part of him wanted to punch the guy for making a move on his woman. He smiled remembering Dora's methods of distracting him from any negative thought processes. He was slightly irked that Charlie was the first to know but if it kept the dragon tamer from pursuing his intended Harry could live with it. Bill and Fleur knowing definitely worked in his favour, as they became co-conspirators in getting he and Dora some alone time, he shivered at the thought of having to try and evade them too.

It did sadden him that he still hadn't told Ron and Hermione yet, but when talking to Dora they decided it was best that way until his task was complete as Ron's reaction/temper could derail the mission's progress and put Tonks in danger. Harry suspected Hermione had put the dots together but was discretely avoiding the topic but some of the knowing looks she was sporting suggested that when this was over they would be having words.

Hermione's recovery seemed to be going okay if the vociferous way she was arguing with Ron was any indication. On Ron's part he was trying but Harry mused that was the problem. Since they had escaped Malfoy Manor Ron had been incredibly protective of Hermione - somewhat understandably in Harry's opinion if it had been Dora he knew he'd be worse. However Ron and Hermione were not dating and Hermione was not one to be coddled, this inevitably lead to fights which was counter-productive to Ron's aims as the stress of their fights seemed to bring on aftershocks from Bellatrix's curse. Despite the bickering Ron and Hermione had insisted on rooming together and neither seemed put out that Harry had sorted out alternative sleeping arrangements. The first day Tonks had made a show of sleeping on the sofa but with Bill and Fleur in on the secret, Hermione's deductions and Ron's obliviousness she'd stopped that by the third night.

Even with the tight wards around the cottage Harry found the outdoor space calming. As had become his daily ritual since his arrival he made his way to Dobby's grave to have a chat with the elf and enjoy the sea view. Dora had helped overcome a lot of his guilt over Dobby's death but he felt he owed it to his loyal little friend to spend time with him while he could. Most of the house's occupants had an idea where he went on his daily jaunts but they gave him the space.

Saying bye to Dobby Harry made his way back to the cottage only to be intercepted

' 'Arry , will you join me on a check of the ward line? Bill is held up at work and Nymphadora taking a nap. I need backup.'

'Of course, Fleur, happy to help.'

'Merci, Harry, it doesn't hurt that I get to spend some time with you without your bodyguards.'

Harry chuckled: between Dora, Ron and Hermione apart from his trip to Dobby he was rarely alone for more than 5 minutes.

'It's a long way from the tri-wizard tournament, is it not?' 'Yeah, that was so long ago. How's Gabby?'

'My parents are keeping her safe. They are talking moving her to a school in Africa if the situation with you-know-who is not sorted soon. They think it's only a matter of time before the whole of Europe is under threat He's already got strong support in Albania and Charlie says support is growing in Romania and according to Viktor the same is true of Bulgaria. My parents want Bill and I to get transfers to other branches of Gringotts but Bill would never leave his family and I won't leave him.'

They walked in companionable silence for a while doing the checks.

'Gabby will be most disappointed when she hears about your relationship status, I think she still harbours a bit of a crush on her saviour. I am happy for you and Nym though you seem very well suited to each other. As someone who's known both of you for a few years now, can I offer you one piece of advice?' Harry didn't protest.

'Don't be afraid to love and show love, Harry, it's clear to everyone here except maybe my idiot brother-in-law you two love each other despite the situation that brought you together. From what I've seen at the moment Nymphadora is doing most of the work and a relationship should be about partnership. Don't take her love for granted and don't hide from it. However it came about you both deserve love whatever else is going on in the world. I know you have many responsibilities right now but if the worst happens and you don't make the most of the opportunities you have now you will regret it, we can't always live for tomorrow, Harry.'

'Thanks Fleur,' Harry said quietly as they entered the cottage.

-0-0-

Bill decided that the next day would be his opportunity to have a private chat with Harry. The moment he cornered Harry to ask him to check the perimeter with him Harry had to suppress the urge to groan. He knew what that was code for. Although Hermione was unaware of Fleur's intervention the day before and Bill made the rookie error of asking in the bookworm's presence, never one overlook a learning opportunity Hermione then proceeded to bombard Bill with questions. To begin with it was amusing to watch Bill try distract her but having failed he resigned himself to the additional member of the party. Of course this prevented the conservation that was the aim of the activity but Harry enjoyed seeing Hermione in her element and having a brief respite from the pressures of the 'Hunt'.

Harry decided that he'd rather not do this exercise tomorrow so rather than subject him and Bill to this again he'd bite the bullet and let Bill know he was on to him. Damn the consequences, there was only so much ward checking Harry could handle. Quietly while Hermione was examining a phenomenon Bill mentioned he whispered

"You and your wife need to be a bit more creative with your attempts to get me alone, Fleur used the wards yesterday and was a lot more successful than you. If you want to talk to me alone just ask and I'm sure I can think of some diversion. I'm not friends with the twins because of my looks."

"Got me, Harry, clearly I should not tell my wife my methods, she's a crafty one. "

Bill's attention was diverted again by Hermione and what must be question 125 since they left the cottage 45 minutes ago. As they were re-entering the cottage Bill whispered

"Meet me in the living room at 11pm tonight. Fleur will handle Nym."

-0-0-

Fleur had come to their room at 10 that evening and the conversation had soon descended into topics that would make any man run a mile. Harry was no exception: the final straw had been when they started talking periods.

Anything, even a Weasley lecture, was better than that, Harry just prayed Bill was not going to try 'the talk' again.

-0-0-0-

Meanwhile Tonks was enjoying some rare girl chat about her relationship with Fleur. With so few people aware of her relationship status - Remus, her mum and Charlie - she had been deprived of conversation with a woman her own age. There are just some things that you cannot gossip about with your mum.

Fleur didn't judge the progress or lack thereof of their relationship. She gave her view on Harry and they talked about how to get around some of his issues. Fleur asked the right questions and gave Tonks the space to be a giggly bride-to-be. Fleur confessed to her chat with Harry the day before and what Bill's current activities were. Tonks delighted in managing to make her hostess blush, a hard thing to do.

-0-0-0-

Harry's evening was far less relaxing: it's not every day you get threatened by a curse breaker. He felt sorry for any of Ginny's boyfriends who made it to the taking them home to meet the family stage: they'd get the big brother talk 6 times over and each of her brothers was scary in their own way.

He'd entered the dimly lit lounge to fine Bill nursing a fire-whiskey.

"Sit Harry, I'll pour you a glass."

"As soon as you arrived here it was clear something was going on between you and Nym, I've never seen her so worried or distracted by anything and I've known her since she was 11. I'm just glad that you're not mucking her around. Before she told us what was going on I was worried that you were using her for some fun before settling into the contract.'

'Bill, I would never treat...'

'To be fair, Harry, we don't really know each other and before this week we haven't spent more than a couple of hours together and normally we are doing something. I've met a few of the guys in Nym's life and none of them have really lived up to her hype. Nym is special and most guys I've seen her with haven't seen that. Even my idiot brother chose dragons over her. I decided years ago that Nym needed a big brother and I fit the bill. Basically the contract means you can't leave but I expect you to treat her right. A marriage even if arranged is more than a bit of paper and Nym deserves the whole deal and from what my siblings have said so do you. But if you ever intentionally hurt her, don't forget, I will find you and make sure you regret it for a very long time.'

'Message received'

'Harry, my whole family love you my parents see you as a seventh son, the twins think you're the best thing since them, you're Ron's best mate and Ginny's hero and now you're marrying a good friend of mine so I hope when this war is over we can get to know each other better so I can get to know the man behind the hype. '

Harry appreciated that Bill seemed to genuinely want to get to know him for himself and not who people say he is.

'I'd like that'.

' Don't expect Charlie to be your biggest fan, though, for a long time we all thought Tonks would become a Weasley. Mum thought Nym was the only thing that would deter Charlie from dragons, she loved Nym and was devastated when it became apparent C had no intention of making Nym an 'honest woman'.

Nym and C were inseparable from 6th year till about a month before he left. Having to pick up the pieces from Charlie's decision to leave was one of the hardest things I've done. We didn't speak for 6 months. I think C thought she would always be there for him once he was done with the dragons and now she's gone and he can't ever have her, rightly or wrongly, given that he let her go, I think he will hold you responsible.' Bill warned

'BUT I didn't do anything. This wasn't my idea, we were thrown into this but I like being with her and, contract no contract, I want us and I'll fight for it if I have to but I won't apologize. He had his chance he blew it."

'Unfortunately I don't think it's just Charlie you two need to worry about. Mum and Ginny have had plans to make you officially a Weasley before they even met you and when they met you and you saved Gin it just cemented the idea for both of them. I love them both and I know they'll come around eventually but the initial reaction won't be nice, neither of them are used to not getting what they want, you saw how they were with Fleur before Greyback. Anyway that's the serious subject out the way. Let's give the girls some more gossip time. Has any ever told you about the twins' 5th birthday and the lawnmower incident?'

"No I don't think they have,' with that Harry finally relaxed back into his chair.

* Harry potter and the deathly hallows by J K Rowling ch.23/24

**AN/ Thanks toAlix33 for their betaing of this chapter. Thanks for continuing to read and putting up with my unpredictable updates. Ps. I know in the books ****Shell Cottage**** is smaller but I used some artistic license /AN**


	15. Chapter 15 The Growing Storm

**Chapter 15 The Growing Storm**

"ARGHHHH, why do you have to be so Bloody noble, POTTER! Scratch that, it's not noble! It's a form of F*%#ing torture! For Merlin's sake, we're both adults or did I imagine your last birthday? I don't know who I want to throttle more right now you, those idiots who 'raised' you or my cousin I'm pretty sure is laughing his arse off up there at the fact that I'm trying and failing to corrupt his pup. I'm going for a walk. DON'T follow me, I will hex you where it hurts cause it would seem it's not going to do me any harm."

She huffed in defeat, slamming the door to their room leaving Harry Potter to contemplate her latest outburst.

Harry flopped back on the bed, deciding it was best to let her cool down a little. So he took the opportunity to contemplate the last week and half: if it wasn't for planning the Gringotts break in he could easily forget the looming spectre of his prophesied face off with Riddle.

A lazy smile crossed Harry's features as he reflected on the time he'd spent with Dora over the last few days. Being with her was the closest he could remember to feeling like a normal teenager. Yes most 17 year olds didn't have 24-year-old fiancées but it was hard to see Dora as the older partner, most of the time Harry felt like he was the mature responsible one.

Like yesterday afternoon when Dora had decided that it was a travesty that Harry a) hadn't ever been to the seaside and b) had never been skinny-dipping. She decided this needed rectifying immediately and ignoring the peril she hollered at Bill that they were leaving the wards for an hour and 30 minutes and dragged an apprehensive Harry to the nearby coast playfully ordering him to strip or she would do it for him. Complying with her wishes he stripped only to be immediately pulled into the frigid English sea. Of course she stayed in her underwear claiming the need to have somewhere to store her wand. In retrospect he wondered if it was just a ruse to get him naked.

His thoughts went back to the immediate situation. They had, of course, shared a bed since he had arrived at the cottage but they had done little more than sleep, clearly if her latest outburst was any indication of his other half. Views she was losing her patience with and part of him couldn't blame her.

Harry mused. He was meant to be the horny hormone driven teenager, not Tonks. Yes, he was a 17 year old male and he certainly enjoyed the alone time they had snatched so far but he was conflicted and until he'd sorted his head out he wasn't going to do something he'd regret later, especially considering if he survived the next few months he and Tonks were in this for life. As much as he wanted to move things forward especially after seeing how comfortable Bill and Fleur were with each other, Harry admitted to himself he was scared, scared that he couldn't give Dora the comfortable intimacy she deserved, scared that he'd muck up somehow or that Dora would be disappointed. After all, what experience did he have with women! On top of that as much as he wanted to live as much as possible while he could there was part of him that felt it was better for both of them if they didn't cross that boundary until this was over as he wasn't convinced he would be able to detach himself and focus on Dumbledore's task if he did.

Unfortunately Dora's increasing frustration was weakening his resolve, every time they made out she was pushing his boundaries more and more and it was getting more and more difficult to resist.

Today was a prime example: a quick snog had turned into turned into more and keeping track of Dora's hands was impossible. Soon his shirt was off but it was only as he felt her hands fiddling with his waistband that his brain kicked in and he pulled back slightly leading to her storming out. It was the 3rd time he'd pissed her off in as many days but this was the first she'd actually said, well screamed, anything.

0-0-

Tonks steeled herself to re-enter their room. There was definitely something to be said for a late night jog for working through stuff. She knew that if she wanted to get anywhere with Harry on this one she needed to embrace her inner Gryffindor and face it head on. She also knew she'd get nowhere by getting angry but Merlin that green-eyed god knew how to push her buttons. Opening the door she could see Harry had dozed off. Deciding this conversation needed to happen sooner than later she settled on the bed and nudged her bedfellow. He sleepily smiled at her making her feel slightly like she was about to kick a puppy.

"Look Harry, we need to talk." She said in a tone which indicated this would happen now whether he wanted it to or not. Thankfully he got the message and sat up and rested against the headboard, twisting slightly to face her

'I'm sorry for losing it, but I'm not used to being the one who's being slowed down. I sometimes forget that our relationship didn't start in the most conventional way. I like you a lot, Harry, and I want more, I need more and I think you deserve more.

This relationship matters to me and I'd like to think it does to you too. I don't care what caused us to be together, we are and I love it, I love us, I love how you make me feel but I can't help but feel we're missing out on something."

"Dora, I don't want you to regret us or me and I'm worried that I won't be able to live up to your expectations. I have next to no experience and"

"Harry, shut up. I love you and I want you. I'm not expecting a porn star or Casanova, I want you, all of you and I see your lack of experience as an opportunity to teach you what I like and I'm sure I'll enjoy the experimenting even if it isn't perfect. I know we haven't spent much time together but we've been together nearly two years now and I miss that physical intimacy that is a part of normal adult relationship and I see no reason to deprive us of that."

"You love me?" Harry replied in awe.

"Yes silly, why do you think I'm so pissed off." Leaning over and kissing Harry as if this act will prove the statement.

" You're making me feel like a love struck teenager, Harry. I want to touch you, kiss you and be near you all the time. Our time here has almost felt like a dream to be able to be with you without having to worry too much who's watching.

I'm not sure I can let you go this time. Romania was hard but it felt necessary, but I worried about you too much. I was constantly in fear that something would happen and I … I… I wouldn't know and now I think it would be 100 times worse." She could feel her emotions begin to overwhelm her. It made her think of her dad. Desperately trying to get back in control of the emotions she sucked in a deep breath.

"Dora"

"Harry, don't Dora me, look, I let you go off with your side-kicks last summer because I could be more help for you with The Order than I would've been if we had to explain my presence to Ron and Hermione. I knew the order could use my skills somewhere, but I'm not going anywhere now. I know what you need to do and I can help and if I'm with you I'll worry about you less and I'm worried how much I've missed out on and what's it's done to you. I know you well enough to know you don't like explaining so I'd rather be experiencing it alongside you than prizing it out of you afterwards. I don't want to hear about your life 2nd or 3rd hand any more, sod the consequences! Why'd you think I've insisted on you telling me about Gringotts, I want in!'

"But"

"No buts Harry, you and I could infiltrate Gringotts a lot easier than you, and Hermione and Ron and you know it. If you're taking risks I want to be there taking them with you and this way we can keep Hermione and Ron out of the goblins' bad books."

"But"

"Stop it before I silence you. I can handle your boundaries on the physical side of us - but you will owe me when this nightmare is over, Potter, and I intend to collect. However there is no way I'm letting you push me out of the other aspects of your life. Our world is full of risk and I'd rather be with you than worrying about you. I can help you in ways others can't and face it at this point you need all the help you can get!"

"Okay Dora, you win we'll talk to Ron Hermione and Griphook in the morning but for now can we get some kip."

"Glad you've come around to my way of thinking."

-0-0-

"Harry, are you sure?"

An anxious Hermione asked

"Yeah, there's no reason to put you or Ron at extra risk, you've already done so much and the plan is pretty strong. I mean Tonks was an auror I'm sure she can handle a little adventure. Besides, you heard Griphook, there are multiple security procedures polyjuice can only get us so far. Tonks won't be affected by that security measure and I have the cloak.

If we find what we are looking for I need a plan for what next, Dora's flat is a good base we can't stay with Bill and Fleur forever and I want this over. Plus Tonks might be able to help, we certainly haven't had any progress for a while.' Harry got out, cursing his slip-up.

"But Harry, Dumbledore told us to keep the mission to ourselves," Hermione stated at the same time as an affronted Ron asked

"What's wrong with my brother's?"

"Nothing's wrong with here, Ron, but as long as we're here we're not dealing with the task at hand and Hermione, we need help and I trust Tonks and her skills would be useful right now."

A knock at the door derailed any comebacks.

"Wotcher, guys."

-0-0-0-

"Spill"

"What, Hermione?"

It was one of the few times he and Hermione had been without company.

"Harry, I'm not stupid, I see how you and Tonks are around each other, you've called her Dora several times since we got here and she hasn't told you off once. so what I want to know is what's going on between you? "

" I was hoping to put this conversation off a little longer,"

Harry started sheepishly. "May as well get to the point, Tonks is my Betrothed."

Hermione smiled knowingly, clearly having predicted this as an option.

"How long have you known? Can I see the contract? I bet it's really interesting, I doubt there's been a muggle equivalent in centuries, when will you marry? Who dr...?"

"Whoa there, Hermione. I've known for an about 18 months. It's existed for about 2 years. I haven't even seen the contract yet, so hold your horses. Sirius drew it up with Tonks' parents. Neither of us knew about it until after it was finalised. Dumbledore knew as well but not till after the contract had been completed apart from them, Remus, Bill, Fleur, you and Charlie know." Harry couldn't help the icy tone which left his throat when saying Charlie's name. This caused a quizzical look on Hermione's face but she thought better of probing that further.

" And to answer your other question as of yet no date set, it needs to happen before I turn 21 but we're aiming for after Riddle, that way we aren't stuck if either of us don't make it through."

"Are you happy, Harry?"

"Yeah, I guess, I mean it was a shock when Sirius told me and I never would have thought of me and Tonks a couple but it seems to work, you know."

"I'm happy for you, Harry, even if I wish you'd had a choice. You deserve someone and from what I've seen Tonks cares about you a lot, and she seems to be able to keep up with you and your moods."

there was definite humour in Hermione's tone for the last bit and Harry decided to play along and shot her a mock glare which lasted about 10 seconds before they both broke out in laughter.

After a few minutes of laughing Hermione managed to compose herself and spoke again

" Seriously though I think she'll get and be able to handle the stuff that comes with being part of your life. I wish you'd felt comfortable to tell me about this sooner but I understand."

"Thanks, Hermione, and I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. Merlin, I've wanted to if for no other reason than to get your advice - half the time I don't know what I've done wrong to Tonks and the female mind is a certainly mystery to me, that's for sure.

Unfortunately a betrothal just is not something that you can casually slip into a conversation 'oh yeah and by the way the witch I'm contracted to marry is Tonks and isn't it nice weather we're having?' Plus the less people who know the safer Dora is and I'm not sure I'm ready to handle Ron's reaction to this yet- I don't want him to blow up again and I'm worried if he did I'd do something I'd regret and for all his faults I don't want to lose one of my first real friends. You and he are closest thing I have to family apart from Dora.'

"Oh Harry, you won't lose us. If we can survive Fluffy we can survive anything!" with that she launched into a bone crushing hug.

"You know I'm surprised Tonks let you out of her sight at the wedding. I'm not sure I could have let you gallivant of to god knows where with us if I were in her shoes."

"Yeah well, we fought about it a bit, but we thought it would raise too many awkward questions, plus there was a lot she could do for The Order, but now having heard what we've been up to and seeing the scars we've collected she changed her mind and I know I won't win this one. That's part of why she and I are doing Gringotts together plus this way I can keep you and Ron out of the firing line for a bit."

Hermione didn't have a response to that so they drifted into a companionable silence until Ron burst in about 30 minutes later, claiming boredom and hunger and wanting to know what they were up to.

-0-0-

Over the next couple of days Hermione had managed to have a discreet couple of chats with Harry about his relationship. She laughed at the number of inquisitions Harry had faced so far considering the small number of people who knew. She vowed to even the scales a bit when she had the opportunity.

She delighted in the happiness that radiated from him when talking about Tonks, she'd never seen him so besotted and even if he hadn't realised it yet she was pretty sure he was in love with the metamorph.

She just hoped Tonks knew how lucky she was.

-0-0-

"Tonks can I have a word? In private," Hermione's request was somewhat expected after Harry's admission yesterday that he'd come clean to his bookworm best friend about their relationship.

Dora was a little apprehensive. She knew Hermione didn't approve of the contract that brought her and Harry together. She also knew that Hermione was fiercely protective of and loyal to Harry even when it meant standing up to Ron. Add to that her intellect and she was an intimidating prospect even for a former auror.

Deciding offense was the best form of defence in this situation Tonks decided to try and unnerve Hermione a little once they were alone

'So darling, what can I do for you? Want some advice on how to get the redhead's attention?' Hermione blushed slightly but wasn't thrown off course.

" Not right now thanks, I want to know what are your intentions towards my brother?"

"I didn't know you had a brother, Hermione, you kept that one quiet."

"Oh Nymphadora, stop playing dumb, you know full well I mean Harry!"

" Just trying to lighten the mood, Mione, as for Harry, you don't need to worry." Hermione scrunched her nose at the name shortening.

"Oh I think I do, everyone who knows seems concerned with your honour, Harry's already had three warnings and I'm guessing apart from the headmaster you've had none and someone needs to look out for Harry."

Tonks could feel her ire rising slightly. Surely Hermione had heard and seen enough to know Harry was her primary concern.

As if reading her thoughts Hermione started again "oh I know you care for him and I know the contract means you will end up together but that doesn't mean you won't hurt him. Harry's not as tough and together as most people like to think. I think too many people get too caught up in the boy-who-lived thing to see his weaknesses and insecurities. Harry good at hiding, too, he's got quite a good mask when he wants thanks to those awful relatives of his. He is one of the fairest and kindest people I know and I'm worried you could break him."

" Hermione, I don't know what you've heard about me, but clearly you don't know the first thing about me or you wouldn't have the audacity to even suggest that I would hurt Harry.'

Hermione had the decency to look a little sheepish

" I don't think you'd intentionally hurt him, but I'm worried you don't know the value of what you've got in Harry. He will worship you. Yes, he's stubborn and moody, but he would go to the ends of the earth for those he cares about. To add to that I can already see he's more relaxed with you than I've seen. He trusts you and although I don't think he fully realises it yet but he's clearly in love with you." The last statement made Tonks light up.

"Just give him some slack sometimes. He hasn't had the best examples in life. If he mucks up, at least for a while, tell him straight and so long as you treat him the way he deserves, we'll get on fine, but if you hurt him you won't know what's hit you. "

-0-0-

Intellectually I knew that Harry tended to downplay the adventures he got himself into. For Merlin's sake Harry made their adventures in the ministry sound like it was an everyday occurrence, but It wasn't until we went to Gringotts I really understood the danger he's faced and it really does feel like the world is up against you when you're at his side.

I am so glad he's turned out as well adjusted as he has. I'm pretty sure I'd be sitting in a dark corner with my eyes squeezed shut covering my ears trying to block the world out. I guess that's why I was a Hufflepuff and why he's a Gryffindor.

While I'm proud I can now claim to be one of the few people to break into Gringotts and come out again alive. I don't intend to repeat the experience any time soon though.

Between Harry using an unforgivable, nearly drowning in fake gold, pissing off a horde of goblins and liberating a blind dragon I don't think people would believe it if it was a fairytale. I just thank heavens Harry persuaded Ron and Hermione not to come. I was scared enough as it was and I'm not sure we'd all have made it out in one piece. I mean, I love flying, but riding a blind dragon is not something I would ever recommend and I don't think the poor thing could have taken much more weight.

At least I've got a day to recover. We're meeting Hermione and Ron tomorrow at my flat. Thank goodness they're still dancing around each other or else I'd worry. Though I'd rather be in the flat than this bloody tent. How Harry and Hermione survived it for so long is beyond me. On the plus I get some alone time with lover boy without the threat of interruption or running for our lives.

I'm hoping that Ron and Hermione put their alone time to good use as I'm pretty sure Voldieshorts has Hogsmeade sewn up and Hogwarts is definitely the next stop on this crazy train.

Better go find boy wonder. Who knows what trouble he could have got himself into in this innocuous tent - maybe knowing his current luck he's found the world's first homicidal tea spoon.

-0-0-0-0-

Harry was sat staring to space. Watching, Tonks decided to interrupt, joining Harry on the bench

"Knut for your thoughts?"

" Just thinking bout the last few days. I don't want to die, Dora, but I can't even get out of Gringotts without putting you at risk. If that bone breaker had hit you I don't know what I would do and yet I'm meant to face Riddle."

"Hon, I'm fine, it wasn't even close and you had better not die!"

"I'm tired of feeling so inadequate, I don't have a fucking clue what I'm doing any everyone keeps looking to me like I've got the answers and I know nowt. "

"Honey, people look up to you coz you inspire them. They need someone to look to now Dumbledore's gone and I'm afraid you're the obvious choice but if it helps you'll always be a skinny idiot to me," with that she pulled Harry towards her and lent in for a kiss only to change direction at the last minute and kiss his nose.

"No fair," pouted Harry

"Well, Mr. Potter, what did you have in mind? And what are you going to do to rectify this injustice? "

"This," Harry proceeded to kiss her, demanding entrance to her mouth, sending a trill up Dora's spine as Harry took charge of their activities for once. As his hands roamed and Dora's clothes decreased by the second she decided she had better stop this before they did something he'd regret.

Separating herself from him despite his groan at the loss of contact she got enough control over her thoughts to get out "Hon, we need to stop before I'm not able to."

"Don't wanna."

Harry tried to recommence his ministrations only to be thwarted. Pulling Harry's face level with hers she gazed into his emerald orbs as if trying to evaluate his desire.

"You sure? Coz you know what I want, but I don't want you to regret it come the morning"

"I'm sure, Dora, I want to make it real, and I want to feel while I can and I love you and I want you. I don't want to miss my chance.' he leaned in initiating yet another very demanding kiss that crumbled any remaining reserve Dora had.

-0-0-0-

Waking up slowly Dora stretched allowing herself and small contented smile as she reflected on the night before. Harry certainly had potential and she hoped when this nightmare was over they would have more time to explore that aspect of their relationship. However right now wasn't the time.

Looking at her watch she saw it was just after 6am. They had 6 hours until they were due at her flat. She decided to follow a habit she had picked up over the last couple of weeks and watch Harry sleep for a bit. It was the only time she got to see him even remotely relaxed. While over the last couple of weeks Harry had had a couple of visions - he had confessed to her that he slept better in her company. While her heart jumped slightly at this titbit her head argued it was due to the meditation exercises she made him do. Either way she was glad she could aid him. So much of his fight seemed predetermined that she often felt useless which irritated her immensely. By nature she was a doer a problem solver and most of her fiancé's were beyond her reach.

Deciding it was time for a cuppa she left her study of Harry and headed to the kitchen area.

-0-0-0-

Harry awoke suddenly becoming hyper aware of a part of his anatomy and his bladder. Jumping out of bed with a sense of urgency that caused the rest of his body to protest at movement he headed to the bathroom.

Leisurely he returned to bed, wanting to hide a bit longer and get his thoughts together before being confronted with Dora. Last night had been amazing, better than he thought. The guy talk he'd overheard over the years certainly didn't do it justice. It was more difficult than he thought, or maybe more difficult to do it well but Dora was very patience and certainly seemed to enjoy most of it or at least he thought she did. Although he couldn't help but wonder how he compared to her past experiences. Another part of him was berating himself slightly for depriving himself of the experience for so long.

He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to look at a woman the same way again! He certainly knew that he'd never forget the experience and was grateful to Dora for giving him the opportunity. He hoped they'd have the opportunity to repeat the experience over the coming years but if he didn't live past the war he knew he would not regret last night.

He wondered what Sirius and his dad would make of his current uncertainty. According to several people they'd been ladies' men in their teens. He was not sure he'd ever have been that. He wondered if Sirius would be ribbing his dad about how soppy his son was.

In the immediate he was uncertain how to react to Nym this morning, they'd been so intimate, and he didn't want to lose that closeness but he didn't have the first clue how to translate it into everyday life.

Deciding he couldn't hide forever and that he had nothing to be ashamed of he decided it was time to get up and dressed and to find his partner in crime.

-0-0-0-

Tonks could hear Harry moving around and knew it was only a matter of time before he put in an appearance. She put the kettle on and started on breakfast. Harry entered the room radiating an uncertainty that reminded Tonks just how inexperienced he was with relationships. It made her heart flutter a little and she pledged to take it easy on him but she couldn't resist a little fun at his expense she was a Black after all.

"Morning Loverboy, did I wear you out last night?"

Harry flushed and started spluttering ' erm ... hi Dora, n reall..."

"Oh Harry" leaving the breakfast, Dora headed to Harry and gave him a passionate kiss that took both of them back to memories of the night before. Stopping abruptly before she lost control again Dora took a step back and looked into his eyes spotting a passion there she hadn't seen before.

"Honey, I'm only messing, I'm happy to see you're not too traumatized and I hope we can do it again sometime soon." She winked and brought her hand slowly down his chest before moving away slightly.

"I love that we _Finally_ got to share last night coz I don't think I could've waited much longer. You're just too damn handsome. I love you but we better get breakfast before I burn the tent down and I bet you're starving."

Nodding Harry went to inspect Dora's culinary attempts "I think I'll take over. I might as well put my experience at the Dursleys to good use. Can you sort the tea while I plate up?"

"Sure thing"

The pair settled down to breakfast knowing the relaxed atmosphere would soon be broken.

-0-0-

Walking through the portrait into the room of requirement Harry couldn't help feel that breakfast this morning felt like a lifetime ago.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Neville shouting at the unknown

'Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?'*

The light was blinding as they transitioned from the passageway into the room then there were deafening shouts of

'HARRY!'*

And

'It's POTTER'*

At the noise and sentiment Harry stiffened. He wanted nothing more than to run the other way, he couldn't do this, he couldn't be the person they wanted, they needed. Didn't they realize he was just a clueless, skinny 17 year old with no _special _skills? He had almost come to a standstill, the desire to flee rising by the second. Suddenly he felt somebody rubbing calming circles into his back, causing him almost instantly to relax a little. There was no doubt in his mind it was Dora. He could smell her unmistakable scent of honeysuckle. However it was her touch that made the difference. In these briefest of touches he felt like she was pushing support and belief in him. It was reassurance that he needed to go on. She had reminded him discreetly he was not alone, that he was loved and adored for just being him.

Neville had finally gained order in the room and this provided Harry with opportunity to finally take in his surroundings.

-0-0-0-

She didn't know how he managed not to crumble under the expectation. She wanted to hex half the room: didn't they realize how hard this was for him? Could they not understand how overwhelming this was? Yes, they didn't know what he was truly facing, but looking at him as if he has all answers would intimidate most people and if it didn't you had to worry why not. Nobody should have that degree of worship, nobody should be treated as if they are infallible. The errors of Dumbledore had proven that to her.

She didn't know what to do, but she knew she needed to do something and fast and preferably without bring attention to herself so she did the only thing she could think of and discreetly began rubbing circles into Harry's shoulder. At her touch he stiffened for a millisecond before relaxing, giving Tonks a sense of accomplishment of how far her relationship with Harry had come.

-0-0-0-

Having dealt with the rooms' inhabitants' questions with Ron and Hermione's encouragement Harry requested the assistance of the room in finding the diadem. Dora could not help the jealousy that rose in her watching Harry with both Luna and Cho. Whilst Ginny had been all over Harry since she entered the room she knew there was nothing there and never would be as far as Harry was concerned, but Luna and Cho were a different case: she couldn't stop her insecurities raising. She was pretty sure that there was something there. or at least without her and the contract there could have been.

She almost bit through her tongue containing her objections when Ginny stupidly suggested Luna accompany Harry to Ravenclaw. Why didn't she see the competition the petite blonde presented? Was she that oblivious to the escape Luna offered Harry?

-0-0-0-

When he re-entered the room of requirement the first person his eyes went to were Dora's. He wanted nothing more than to order her away from this place to safety so that he could have the peace of mind that no matter what happened she wouldn't be part of it. However he knew that would never be an option she would never stand for it, if he forced her if he survived this he would have a very lonely and unhappy marriage and he knew as much as it pained him Dora was one of the best fighters they had on their side and they needed everyone they could get.

-0-0-0-

Nym looked on as Harry took charge and owned the role so many have repeatedly pushed him into except this wasn't the same Harry of an hour ago. This Harry embraced it even before he opened his mouth. She knew instinctively the battle was imminent.

Nym watched as Harry sided with the Weasley matriarch over Ginny's role in the coming fight. Personally she thought they were both barking. Had they not seen that girl with a wand? Age or not she was a force to be reckoned with. However she knew better than to challenge Molly over her children especially when safety was concern and she was secretly relieved to see Harry's protectiveness being focused elsewhere. She was preparing herself for an argument with Harry over her role in the coming battle but it never came.

He looked at her, eyes blazing, but radiating a business demeanour.

"Tonks, we need you. Offensive position. Use every trick in the book and any others you think of. Leaning closer he whispered for her ears only: "I'm trusting you to keep yourself safe, if I had any other option to win this, I would get you as far from here as I could, you mean too much to me. I love you, Nymphadora Tonks' with that he pulled away and she saw his face and it was an image she'd recount for years to come, it made her heart melt. Learning forward she closed the gap between them and whispered: ' You have awful timing, Potter, but I love you, so come back to me.'

Knowing there was nothing more to say and they were already attracting too much attention Dora walked past Harry towards the door gently brushing his arm as she went. When she reached the door she drew her wand and with one last look over her shoulder she left not knowing if she'd ever see those gorgeous eyes again.

*Harry potter and the deathly hallows by J K Rowling

**AN/ Thank you to ****Alix33 for their help with this chapter and happy new year /AN**


	16. Chapter16 When the Battle is lost & won

**Chapter16 When the Battle is lost and won**

Here stood before Voldemort and his death eaters Harry couldn't help feeling he didn't want to die. However as with so much of his life why fight the inevitable at least this way he could die on his terms and not give Riddle the satisfaction of beating him.

As the sickly green light hurtled towards him yet again he couldn't help but hope that his death would mean something, that it would set people free. He hoped that Hermione worked out why things happened this way and that someone would take down the megalomaniac once and for all.

He whispered ' I love you, Dora' to the wind and a slight smile passed his lips as he thought about those he loved and those that loved him. Then Harry Potter was no more, his body dropped to the floor with Victorious cheers and a solitary guttural sob from his giant friend.

-0-0-0-

In the room of requirement Dora made a beeline for Ginny

'Gin, while your mum and boy-wonder think we can afford to be fussy about whose wands we use, I know we need all the help we can get. I know you're a spitfire and we cannot afford not to use you. This is it, there's no second chance if this doesn't work I'm pretty sure we won't be here to see it or worse, so we can't afford to not pull out all the stops. If you're up for it I'd like to work with you, but please don't let on to Molly that I suggested it. The woman's got enough to shout at me for without adding corrupting and endangering her daughter to the list.'

'Thanks, Dora, what's the plan?'

The room's doors opened with a bang, halting Dora's reply and leading most of the room's inhabitants to raise their wands to the threat.

'Everybody we need the room, please leave, be careful and in the spirit of Mad-eye moody be vigilant!' Harry boomed

Grabbing Ginny's arm Tonks pulls her along with her out of the room. Just as they turn to the stair they hear Harry holler

'TONKS, Protect Gin!'

Ginny groused at this 'Bloody noble git, he's as bad as my brothers, I'm sixteen not six. It not fair' stomping her foot,

'I don't see him trying to stop you fighting.' Ginny whined. Tonks resisted pointing out how immature her reaction was instead opting to commiserate with her in 'true, but he knows from experience I'd hex him where it hurts battle or not plus I don't come with 6 brothers to back him up, but believe me you're not the only one on the receiving end of his 'saving people thing', but I've manage with a bit of bribery to bring him round to my way of thinking and let's face it he wouldn't be Harry without trying to save the girl all the time'

'You'll have to tell me how you persuade him after this; I think I need all the help I can get if I want to get his attention. He doesn't seem to realise girls exist, I think that blubber bag Cho ruined him.'

Dora smirked at this thinking how to reward Harry later 'No can do, Ginger, I'm not sure your mother would approve of my methods.'

'Shame.'

Both young women stayed in companionable silence as they headed to the 5th floor both wrapped in thoughts of the man in question.

Reaching the fifth floor stairwell the battle suddenly became very real. They could see a selection of Order members being battled into a corner outnumbered 3 to 5. Ginny reflected that Harry made battling death eaters look easy compared to the show these Order members were putting on. It was clear to her that the death munchers were getting the upper hand which scared her as these idiots were Voldemort's minions. If she knew anything about Tom it was that he would hold out the big guns like Bella and Malfoy senior for selected targets.

Tonks despaired while she knew why Dumbledore welcomed anyone he could get his hands on the majority of the order were not battle ready, in fact apart from the aurors and hit-wizards the only ones who could stand their ground in a fight were McGonagall, Remus and the Weasleys.

Deciding her comrades wouldn't last much longer she decided it was time to even out the odds. She fired off a round of brightly coloured spells then dragged herself and Ginny out of the inevitable return fire.

Neither Ginny nor Tonks could tell you how long they battled for, every time they managed to incapacitate an idiot another appeared. Finally the stairwell was secured and Dora took the opportunity to take in the surrounding battles. On the whole it looked like the light had a slight advantage although many fighters looked worse for wear with various injuries most were still standing. The giants were doing a lot of structural damage to the castle and she morbidly wondered how long it would be before the whole thing collapsed and killed them all regardless.

She started down the stairs with Ginny at her side to secure the 4th floor landing. Looking across the space she could see several mini battles. Deciding that Diggle and Remus looked most outnumbered she headed in their direction, leaving Ginny to join George.

Volleying spells with their opponents, Remus and Dora got into a good rhythm just as they were dispatching the last foe when Dolohov appeared. Dora shuddered, recalling the damaged he inflicted on Hermione. This maniac needed taking out and if she could she would. With a subtle nod to Remus they bombarded the madman with spells but Dolohov seemed to revel in their attack. Just as she thought they had the upper hand she saw a sickly green spell heading in their direction. Ducking, she used the natural pause, using the avada kadavra curse to blast the guy off his feet. Dolohov dispatched, Tonks turned to check in with Remus to find him motionless on the floor. Devastated not just for her loss, but for the loss for Harry, she dropped to the floor, oblivious to the ongoing battle surrounding her. It had all been too much. Everything crashed down on her. Remus was a good friend, her strongest link to Sirius and he'd deserved better.

Letting her auror training kick in, she pulled herself up, vowing to avenge Remus, knowing if she survived this then there would be plenty. Now was the time to fight for so that she could see Tomorrow.

She started firing off spells with reckless abandon. The gloves were off and no more immobilizing the opponent. Time passed in a blur she didn't know how many death munchers she took out or how many cuts, scrapes and burns she'd acquired. She'd just made it to the 3rd floor where it looked like a wall had collapsed. The maroon puddle didn't bode well for the person hit. She could only hope it was one of Voldemort's lot who'd been on the receiving end.

Suddenly the bastard's voice permeated everything and everything and everybody stopped. Her stubborn defiance meant she blocked it out and used the distraction to take out some more foes. However that was a short-lived idea: as soon as Riddle said Harry's name she was taking in every word

'... Directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, and then battle recommences. This time I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me'*

Dora's heart dropped. She willed for Harry to ignore the bastard praying that she would spontaneously developed telepathy and get through to her fiancé. However knowing that was unlikely to happen she hoped that Ron, Hermione or Luna were near to him to dissuade him of any foolish heroic notions he was bound to be considering.

Deep in thought at the prospect of losing the man she loved, Dora didn't see the spell hurtling towards her and before she knew it everything went black.

-0-0-0-

She gasped and suddenly Tonks was bombarded with sounds and smells as she desperately squeezed her eyes shut.

'Come on, Nym, Harry hasn't got all day and now's not the time to take a kip!' opening her eyes slowly Charlie Weasley filled her vision. For an awkward second it looked like he was going to go in for a kiss on the lips when thankfully at the last second he seemed to rethink his action and moved position to kiss her forehead then he offered her a hand.

'Everyone's in the hall, we're doing a head count.'

'C, did you see Harry?' Dora asked eagerly

Charlie stiffened 'no, but I think I saw Ron and Hermione as I left to find you. Knowing what those three are like Potter won't be far behind.'

Reaching the great hall Tonks was so overwhelmed by the extent of the losses that she subconsciously sort comfort from Charlie and they headed towards his family. She could not stop the sob that escaped her as she caught a glimpse of the corpse of Fred Weasley. She was prematurely drawn from her grief by spotting Hermione and Ron. Extracting herself from Charlie's hold she rounded on her fiancé's best friends.

Dispensing with any politeness she demanded 'where's Harry?'

-O-O-

Harry couldn't end it. All the death and destruction all because he couldn't finish one task. All these people dead or injured as a result of his ineptitude. Snape, Fred, and Remus, the list went on and on. Tonks, Hermione, the Weasleys none of them deserved the cost associated with being close to him. Seeing Dora advance on his guard he knew he needed to get on. Besides he reasoned if Professor Snape was willing to waste his last living moments on making sure Harry got some memories. He guessed he should at least honor his wishes.

-0-0-0-

'He was right with us,` Hermione responded confusedly

'Yes, but we've established he`s not her now,` Tonks replied, uncharacteristically snarky. She didn't blame them. Harry, of course, had the cloak as an advantage, but knowing he was not with them caused her to panic. 'I'm sure he hasn't gone far` Hermione tried to reassure her but it was clear neither she nor Tonks really believed what she said.

0-0-0

Nothing, slowly coming to there was no hint to give away his current location no sound, movement or smell. Opening his eyes he notices the clear blue sky then the grass underneath him. As his awareness increases he realises to his mortification that he is in fact starkers.

Jumping up he becomes very conscious of the need to protect his modesty. Wishing there was something more suitable than his hands he looks around at his surroundings. This place looks peaceful: it's grassy with a small harbour and little sailing boats within view. Looking out to the sea he notices it abruptly becomes misty a certain way out. Returning his attention back to his clothing issue he turns back to his starting point to look for something anything to protect his modesty, only to discover a loose cotton tunic on the ground. He looks about for his mystery benefactor, seeing no one he decides to risk it and if the tunic owner returns he'll deal with that when it comes, right now his need is too great.

Now dressed he realises he has no idea how long he's been 'here, wherever here is'. His contemplation is broken by a mewing sound from nearby and he decides to move in the direction of the sound.

A tree comes into view and then he notices leaning up against it is the bundle emitting the sound. Getting closer he observes the bundle is actually a baby looking thing swaddled in a black sheet. He leaned down with the intention of picking this being up and offering the clearly distressed being some comfort when he heard a female shout 'No, Harry stop.'

Forgetting about his original intention he turns on the spot to see an approaching figure of a woman, a woman familiar only in his dreams and photos. She was more beautiful than he anticipated. As she neared he heard her grumble under her breath 'even here he has to be Gryffindor through and through.' Harry was confused, if the she was who he thought then this must be heaven but where were the others? He began to feel his anxiety grow: was his dad, Sirius and Dumbledore too disappointed to greet him?'

Needing some clarity he spoke tentatively

'Mum?' is this heaven?'

'Not quite, son,' Lily chuckled at the confused looked on Harry face.

'You're dead and I was in the forest giving myself to Riddle to die, so if we're not in heaven where are we?'

'In between'

'In between?'

'Yes the place people come to pass over.'

'Oh, so I've died'

'Not quite, Harry,' Lily concluded to her still confused son

Suddenly to her left a bench appeared and Lilly motioned for him to sit. Lily proceeded to tell her son why they were here and why he had was not quite dead.

'You're saying I had that THING in my head, I helped keep that bastard alive.'

'Yes darling, but he's gone now, whatever happens now that Thing,' her voice laced with disgust and contempt as she sneered at the bundle not that far away. `Will never hurt you again.' with that declaration as if protecting him from further harm Lily leaned over and kissed the area where the scar was, in a way only a mother could. Not caring how juvenile he felt Harry revelled in it.

'Thanks, mum.'

'You know, I had a lot of competition to be the one to meet you here: Albus, Your dad and Sirius all argued for the privilege to speak to you but I won.

I wanted to tell you how proud of you I am, I never wanted you to have the burdens or suffering you have had but I couldn't be prouder of how you've overcome them.

I know everyone is always reminding you of how much like James you are, but I see a lot more of me in you than your eyes, Harry. But even saying that you are very much your own person, Harry, and don't let what others say alter that.'

'Of course, Mum.'

'Mum' still felt strange coming from his mouth, but it was also natural.

' I love you, Harry, so does your father and I know love has often been hard for you to come by, but there are many in the land of the living that love you very much and they would show it more if you let them. And while James and I were not best pleased with some of your godfather's decisions regarding you; we are very pleased that Dora has been part of your life. She was always such a happy child and we can see how happy you make each other so Sirius is out of the doghouse.' she said with a grin at her own pun.

For the next while they continued to sit and talk about Harry's life some and Harry enjoyed hearing his mum's view on things. He was a bit surprised the first time she swore, though, finding it didn't fit the image others had created of her. After he didn't know how long the sun began to set, signally to Lily their time was drawing to a close and the hard topic could be avoided no longer and Lily laid the options down for him and ever the Potter he chose the challenge.

-0-0-

Dora was frantic. The only person who'd seem Harry in the last 30 minutes was Neville and that was outside and was an ominous message about killing snakes. She hoped that it didn't mean what her head was screaming it was.

She had given up her search for Harry conceding if Harry didn't want to be found he had enough at his disposal to avoid discovery. She comforted herself with the faint pulsating of her necklace that was connected to Harry's earring.

Finding a quiet corner of the great hall she prayed to whatever gods were listening that Harry wasn't doing something stupid. Reflecting on the losses so far she was terrified about what it would mean if this continued much longer.

Despite their best efforts the light were not winning right now and when the battle recommenced she knew without a major change in luck the light would not triumph. They were too cautious and too inexperienced. It was painfully obvious that the few aurors and DA members were the only ones prepared for the realities of battle.

Her thoughts moved on to the man who had her heart, while she'd admitted that to herself; the strength of her feelings still surprised her. Before discovering the contract she'd prided herself being very independent not needing people, yes she enjoyed the company of others and the odd causal relationship, but she never relied on anyone and she was _always_ the one to walk away. Now though, Harry had changed that she wanted him, no needed him and it scared her witless. if the situation wasn't so perilous it would be funny. Who would have thought she would be cow-eyed over anyone let alone the-bloody-boy-who-lived? What was worse for once Sirius had got something right.

With the awareness that the ceasefire was coming to an end and she decided now would be a good time find a defensive position for the imminent recommencing of fighting only to stumble in shock as the pulsating in her hand stopped.

She tried to think of other potential explanations, but her brain couldn't stop screaming

'he's dead he's dead'.

She needed to get away and quickly. She needed to break down, but there was no way in hell she'd do it with this much of audience. If nothing else she didn't want to explain her distress to anyone because that would mean verbalizing the awful thought that was dominating her mind to someone else making it feel more real. Thankfully the rest of the hall's inhabitants were so consumed in their own grief that she calculated she could slip away unnoticed unfortunately, however, Fleur Weasley appeared to be coming in her direction.

Despite trying to keep her composure Tonks had clearly failed miserably, if her French friend's change in demeanour on reaching her was anything to go by,

'Nym'phadora, are you injured, do you need a mediwitch?' Fleur said in an almost unintelligible rush whilst overtly checking Dora over visually for injuries.

Knowing she had no evidence and not wanting to cause undue alarm or concern Dora was economical with the truth ' I'm fine Fleur, just worried about Harry, you know that, but I think I might go and find a quite spot before the ceasefire ends to compose myself'

'Okay, but be safe, we don't know who's where.'

Finally free to make her escape she found the nearest vacant storage cupboard warded herself in, sunk as far as the space would allow and let out a guttural sob into the darkness.

**AN/Thank you to Alix33 for their brilliant beta'ing, Thank you if you've got this far for sticking with the story and sorry for the delay. I can only hope the next chapter won't take me so long but 2013 has been busier than I anticipated and not helped be not being entirely happy with this chapter (I'm still not but I'm looking forward to the next one) /AN**


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